Breaking the Game
by Dhagon
Summary: It's amazing how little difference there is between a serial killer and an adventurer. There's a reason for the term 'murder hobos'. But when your on a quest to save the world you take inspiration where you can, even the Slaughterhouse Nine. A CYOA involving the Gamer power.
1. Prologue

*Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Prologue: Loading Screen

I don't remember dying. A mercy I guess considering what had probably happened. I had read that being electricuted was a fairly horrific way to go.

Although the featureless void in which I found myself in didn't seem much better. Sensory deprivision may even be worse if it lasted too long. I was lucky in that respect. I have always been introverted and was fairly used to retreating into my own headspace.

Over time I'm sure that it will spell a quick route to insanity for me. Even I can't live off only dreams. Right now though it gave me plenty of time to consider my most likely cause of death.

I had been on my computer. Not too surprising for those who knew me. I was usually on my computer. It was my pride and joy. Carefully maintained and constantly upgraded, it was worth more than my car.

Or at least it had been. I spend some time mourning the loss of my electronic companion. With how many automatic processes and timed programs I had been running on it, it was virtually alive. I pampered the hell out it with it's refrigerated case, solar panels, batteries and of course surge protectors.

However no amount of safeguards will protect against being directly struck by lightning. The last thing I clearly remember had been the crack of thunder as all of the electronics had seemed to glow white with the amount of electricity filling my room.

So. I died. I wonder what comes next.

As if it had been waiting for that thought words abruptly faded into view.

 **Welcome to Worm CYOA v.7**

Ok. That's unexpected.

Hmmm. So I'm going to be an SI then?

I'm fairly comfortable with that thought. The various Worm CYOAs are some of the most potentially broken character builds you can find for an SI. And I have never been one to I've never been the one to play fair.

Version seven though. I've only seen one through five. I wonder what powers I'll have available.

 **Please select starting mode.**

 **Press [Next] to continue.**

Heh. That's an easy choice. God Mode. Never start off weaker than you need to. You can hold back to make the experience more fun, but never intentionally cripple yourself.

Or it would be an easy choice, if I could actually move. I find myself trapped, helpless to affect anything and despite my efforts can't touch the glowing word that would let me escape.

I wonder if this is hell. Stuck with nothing but a taunt of potential reality shattering levels of power for all of eternity. I almost missed when the words change.

 **Autoloading Preferences...**

 **Press [Cancel] to go back.**

Oh. I can definitely live with this. I also offer a prayer to whatever R.O.B. programmed this game for including such an option. I wait eagerly to see just what kind of set up I'll end up working with.

Regrettably, the various screens all flash past much too quickly for me to actually read. There are also a lot more then I would have thought. Given the tendancy of each version to be weaken than the previous I hope I'm not too nerfed.

Still, this should be fun.


	2. Getting Started

Chapter 1: Getting Started (edited)

I woke up with a sense of anticipation.

 **Ding! You have slept in a bed. Health and Mana are restored to 100%. All status effects removed!**

Ok, gamer power confirmed. Actually that will be pretty convenient. Any other powers I have should be listed on my character sheet. Speaking of which. _Menu_.

 **Menu**

 **Status**

 **Skills**

 **Perks**

 **Quests**

 **Inventory**

 **Options**

Thank god that worked. Saying the commands out loud would have been a pain.

Looking the list it seems fairly standard. No real surprises. So in order then. _Status_.

Huh. Two columns of text. So there are already differences.

 **Name: None**

 **Age: 8**

 **Title: Gamer**

 **Semblance: None**

 **Class: Mage**

 **Level: 1 - 0%**

 **HP: 20/20**

 **MP: 200/200**

 **Stamina: 20/20**

 **Equip Load: 2/2**

 **Conditions: None**

 **Money: 100**

Alright. Seems like I already figured out some of the choices. Semblance means there is some kind of RWBY crossover. Probably an Apprentice type power since I started with it. May I can teach other. Create minions? Already plans are starting to form.

Class is even better. If I have a class, than it comes with benefits and if I can grant other's classes my minions are going to terrifying. In a world were everyone else is commoners, possessing a class is a significant boost.

I also seem to have the Child flaw. At least I haven't replaced one of the canon characters.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

Already? That seemed pretty easy. Just how low was my Wis score? With that thought I study the second column.

 **Str: 1**

 **Dex: 1**

 **End: 1**

 **Vit: 1**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 2**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Luk: 1**

 **Points: 5**

Just. Wow.

At least it will be fairly easy to raise them at the beginning.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

Hilarious.

Yeah, Leaving my ability scores alone for now. _Skills_.

Huh. The screen has a number of options for sorting them. Don't have too many right now, although more then I had expected.

 **Apprentice (Passive) LVL Max: Allows user to potentially learn any power or skill as long as they meet the base ability and skill requirements. Upon achieving Mastery may craft a Skillbook for others to learn. This may not be done with Core Skills.**

Called it. And it's better then I had thought.

Core Skills? Worry about that later. Let's see what else I have.

 **Aura (Passive/Active 15 mp/min) LVL 1 - 0%: The light of your soul empowering you.**

 **-Passive: Provides a 51% bonus to all physical ability scores. Increase natural healing speed by 100%.**

 **-Active: Additional 51% bonus to all physical ability scores. Natural healing rate increased by 0.1 HP. Reduce all damage by 0.5%.**

Damn. Aura is pretty awesome. Definitely need to level up that skill as soon as possible.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

I sigh. The points are nice, but that chime is already getting old. I resist the urge to jump straight to options. As tempting as it is, I can't afford overlook anything.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

Sigh.

 **Character Customization (Active 1 PP) LVL Max: May spend a Perk Point to automatically create a new skill or Perk as long as meet all the requirements. May also spend a Perk Point to modify a skill.**

Not sure how I feel about this. If I have to spend PP for every new skill I'm going to be crippled.

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) LVL Max: Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) LVL Max: Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immune to psychological status effects.**

Ah, the standard two. No surprises there. Hopefully Gamer's Mind will apply to Master effects.

 **Harvest the Fallen (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows for the generation of loot from everything that dies within a certain area. Area is a 10 meter radius centered on the user. Area increased by 500% inside a dungeon.**

 **ID Create (Active 100 mp) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows for the creature of dimensional pockets. Pockets are destroyed upon leaving.**

 **-Current Dungeons available: Empty, Zombies**

 **ID Escape (Active 50 mp) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows user to leave a dimensional pocket.**

Not sure how I feel about those. I'm glad I didn't have to wait to gain the ID skills, but Harvest the Fallen seems like a weaker version of the normal loot system most Gamer powers have. How much else ended up nerfed?

Although it is a skill, so at higher levels it shouldn't matter too much. Sadly it means I can't just snipe or bomb enemies from afar if I still want to loot them.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

Yay for common sense and logic.

Hmmm. Before I leave the skill page I spend a few minutes closely examining the room I'm in. It's a standard cheap motel room with a single bed. No TV or mini-fridge though.

 **Ding! New skill learned.**

 **Observe (Active) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows user to quickly gather information about target.**

Sure enough, Observe appeared on the skill page. Ok, so I can still make skills on my own.

Looking over the options I sort the skills by type and see that most of my skills are counted as core skills. The only exceptions are Aura and Observe. Probably means I have Special Snowflake or the equivalent perk.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

Well, I guess it's time to check. _Perks_.

 **Blind Spot: Immune to precognition.**

 **Special Snowflake: User powers cannot be copied, drained, reproduced, stolen or suppressed.**

Sad. I was hoping to have started with more, although I'm glad I have the two most important ones. Moving on. _Quests_.

 **Getting Your Bearings.**

 **Gather information about yourself and surroundings.**

 **Rewards: 1 Perk Point**

Heh. Basically a tutorial quest. The reward is nice too. Going through my menu choices is taking care of most of that.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

Deep breath. What was my Wisdom now, an 8? Hopefully it's slow down after 10. Raising stats is usually harder the higher it gets.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

 _Calm_.

I spend the next minute taking slow deep breathes. Gamer's mind allows me to think logically, but it apparently doesn't do anything to keep me from feeling irritation. Which is only fair I guess. Almost every gamer I know at least occasionally gets frustrated while playing.

 **Ding! New skill learned.**

 **Meditation (Passive / Active) LVL 1 - 0%:**

 **-Passive: Increases both Int and Wis by 1%**

 **-Active: Additionally increase MP regeneration rate by 10 points**

Nice. Better if I actually knew what my MP regeneration rate was currently at, but still nice. Passives are always good. Going to need to find more skills that grant passive bonuses.

 **Ding! WIS has increased by 1!**

So. On the the last choice. _Options_.

Holy crap. It's like the source code for an MMORPG. There are literally thousands of screens. I spend a good hour wading through them before deciding to come back to it later. I wanted to complete my quest.

Although I did manage to find a few important things. I enabled Auto-loot and set my menus to all be transparent so they can't blind me. I also got rid of the chime!

Now instead I have a log at the bottom of my view, transparent of course, that displays notices. I have another one for dialogue. Which is perfect since I have a bad habit of not paying enough attention and missing parts of conversations.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I get up and the first thing I notice is my hands. They're tiny. I kind of expected that since I'm twelve. Seeing is believing though. They are really small. God damn, child flaw. I can't even be too upset at that right now though. Another detail distracted me.

They are also black.

I'm not racist, but changing ethnicities was definitely a shock.

It's also not good. Two of the major gangs will target me for my skin color alone. Well, looks like I did take the Enemy flaw.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

Ha! It worked! It took me a second, but my first notification on my Notices Log just appeared.

Thank god.

I walk to the mirror and I see an scrawny kid barely over four feet tall. The face is pretty different from my original and pretty ugly as well, almost uncanny valley for disturbing. I don't really care right now. I intend to spend most of my time behind a mask or in a dungeon anyway.

I console myself with the thought that at least I'm not Taylor Hebert. A real fear since I had chosen to be her in at least two of the versions. Her life was pretty annoying. Her home life would just be awkward. I sincerely doubt her dad is so out of it he won't notice the differences. And of course, she was a girl. Losing my race was one thing, changing gender was sure to throw me off pretty badly. Although Gamer's Mind might stop that part. Just as well I don't have to find out.

I'm wearing very plain clothes. Just a t-shirt and jeans really, along with a cheap plastic watch. There is nothing in any of my pockets. From my earlier inspection the room doesn't have any clues. Guess I'll check outside.

I open the door and it's like a wall of sound slammed into me. Everywhere has these shrill alarms, so loud I'm sure I'd have a headache if I could get them. I can also make out screams and explosions from every direction. Did I get dropped in a warzone?

I jump at a crash from behind me. Turning around I can only stare. It was a mech. Some kind of flying machine bristling with weapons. It had clearly been themed, with vaguely stylized draconic features.

Wait. Dragon?

Damn it, so it is a battle.

 _[Master influence negated.]_

The hell? What was targeting me?

It was then that I noticed. In the background, over all of the other sounds, I could hear an odd scream. It hadn't paused once, as if there was no need to breath. It was emotional, but I couldn't recognize the emotion behind it. It felt wrong. It was this constant irritant, like fingernails on a blackboard, but inside the back of your mind.

I have a horrible idea on what is going on, but am reluctant to believe it. I peek out the door and then I can't deny it, not anymore.

Flying directly overhead is a woman. Tall, skinny, pale and covered in wings. She's the source of the screaming. She's also surrounded by a cloud of rubble, all slowly orbiting around her. Even as I watch a nearby building is gently torn apart to add to the cloud.

I only just then realize what was happening. There were much smaller figures flying through the debris, all desperately attacking her. She danced gracefully through it all, avoiding most of it and the rubble just happened to drift in the way of what she didn't dodge.

Damn. I was right. I really wish I wasn't.

"Mother..." A crash interrupts my curse and for a crazy second I wonder if my power has a parental guidance rating. I shake my head and ignore the thought, besides its not like cursing would actually help right now. I'm already screwed, wasting time to vent won't do me any favors.

The Simurgh.

Unless this was later in the story and that was unlikely since I've never picked such an option, this was most likely Canberra. As if mocking my realization, a newspaper flew by just long enough to read the headlines and confirm my guess.

 _[LUK has increased by 1.]_

 _[Quest Complete.]_

 _[Getting Your Bearings.]_

 _[Gather information about yourself and surroundings.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

I can take that kind of sarcasm from reality if I keep benefiting from it. I was about to escape into an ID when the Simurgh stopped screaming. Until then I hadn't realized how distracting it was, although that might also be from my abysmal Int score.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

Really? I'm still getting points for normal levels of common sense? Just what is the scale here? If everyone has numbers in the hundreds, well I'm just screwed.

As I watch the Simurgh folds her wings around her like a cocoon and rocket upwards, presumably back into orbit. The crumpled remains of some kind of machine is exploding in slow motion in the middle of the air in complete defiance of normal physics. The flying dots, capes, are also abandoning the battlefield.

Abandoning. Ah, crap. I'm in a Simurgh Quarantine Zone.

I look over hopefully, but yep, the mech still has power. I can see lights blinking and of the camera is actually tracking me. Not good, in fact a horrible start.

No use moping. I really need to get stronger. I can't remember much of the story right now, probably from my low Int, but I remember it starts in April. So I have a month or so to prepare.

I square my tiny shoulders. Grinding nonstop for days on end is going to suck. _ID Empty_.

Once inside I waste no time in opening the Perks window.

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 1)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

I thought there would be a lot more. Hopefully I can unlock more later on. I guess I'm hanging on to this for now. If nothing else, I can spend it after I start having trouble increasing my scores through training.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

Hopefully that point was because I'll get more perks later on.

I wonder. _Observe_.

 _[Perks are permanently unlocked after being purchased with Perk Points. New Perks are available based upon certain criteria being met.]_

 _[Observe's skill level has increased by 1.]_

So guess confirmed. I probably need to level up Observe a bit more before I can get enough information. So time to get training.

I left the room and stepped out into an empty world.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I spent the rest of the day Observing everything. It was horribly monotonous. I even go back through my stats. The only real thing of note was the Class. Mage increases my base MP pool by 1000%. Which is crazy in the face of it. It does make me wonder about other classes. Something for the future.

My Equip Load was basically my carrying capacity from DnD. If I went over it I ended up with penalties. Not exactly the same, but close enough. Since I was at 1 in all my physical stats, everything I did caused me to almost collapse. Thankfully I've always had a very high tolerance for grinding.

Try carrying a blanket while running while you're a pathetic little kid. Luckily since they were so low my stats rose quickly. Only fell over a few times. Stupid Dex. And even that worked out for me.

 _[Vit has increased by 1.]_

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Bludgeoning Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: A skill that makes the body's durability increase, reducing damage taken. Reduces bludgeoning damage by 1.]_

 _[LUK has increased by 1.]_

I was pretty happy for a moment before I glanced at my Status screen. I had kept it, along with my skill window open to monitor my progress.

My HP was at 28/30. That meant before I had gained the new point of Vit I had lost a tenth of my health just to falling damage. My god I was currently pathetic.

Thankfully I do heal. It's just slow. Even with Aura it sits at a measly two points per minute.

Stamina turned out to be an interesting stat. It depleted with everything I did, but a few minutes rest and it refilled itself completely. And just as expected, it was linked directly to my Endurance. Thankfully you didn't freeze when you ran out of Stamina. Instead you just started losing HP instead. Well, you started to move crazy slow, but if you pushed past that you started locking HP.

By the time lunch rolled around my stats were much higher, although they were lopsided. I guess I should have expected it since my Wis was already sitting at 13 before I started grinding.

I got another point for training multiple stats at the same time. It wasn't hard. Jumping rope netted me Dex and End. If I pushed, it even gave me Vit, although healing that was a pain. Jumping rope with a bunch of rocks tied to my back also gave me Str. And just like that, all my physicals were getting trained.

Training was actually pretty easy. I couldn't actually meditate, but zoning out while doing a repetitive activity was easy enough. In my past life I had been very good at training. If anything, over training was my problem. Gamer really was the perfect power for me.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

Still at common sense levels. I think about the numbers, a slow and difficult task with my low Int. Looking them over, it doesn't seem that 10 is the average number people have. I know most people can carry more than 20 lbs. Maybe not without penalties, but I still think it's higher. Maybe 30 lbs, so 15s?

Wow, if 15s are average I started off pathetic. That's just wrong. It's a CYOA, I'm supposed to be awesome! _Sigh_.

It actually doesn't take much longer to reach my theoretical average, at least with my Str. The others close behind. l keep pushing. 15 is the average, I refuse to be average. I will be _better_.

Part way I actually switch up my training. My Vit lags sadly behind my other stats and I really don't want to die. So I decide to train it. Since getting hurt raised it before, I go with that.

In preparation I had robbed a gas station. Observing had revealed that food restored either HP, Sta or MP and sometimes some of each. Not in large quantities, but more than enough for my current needs.

I filled my Inventory with Beef Jerky _[Restores 5 HP]_ and Candy Bars _[Restores 5 HP, 5 Sta and 5 MP]_. Just for variety I took a stack of sodas as well _[Restores 5 Sta and 5 MP]_. Seeing as brand didn't seem to matter, I ignored the flavor text for the items.

Then I hit myself.

I had taken fake brass knuckles along with a pocket knife from the gas station just for this purpose. It hurt, but pain had never been a terribly important factor in my decision making. Gamer's Mind made it even easier since it muted the fear that could have caused me to flinch.

I tested them both and the knife gave a different skill.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Slashing Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: A skill that makes the body's durability increase, reducing damage taken. Reduces slashing damage by 1.]_

That was irritating. Why can't I have just gotten one skill for all my damage. Now I have to hurt myself a bunch of different ways. I kept a very close eye on my stats, calculating how many times I can hurt myself before needing to eat something to heal. It became a dull after awhile.

Hit. Stab. Hit. Stab. Eat some beef jerky. Repeat.

Hours later I do eventually stop. I'm only in the twenties, but I have a horrible realization. With my low Int, any plan I come up with is very likely to be a bad one. Well, maybe not bad, but certainly not a great one. I still can't remember much of the original story and I know it was one of my favorites before. I need to raise my Int and quickly.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

Damn. At least my power isn't stating something like for realizing how dumb your being. I'm not sure how much I'd enjoy being a gamer if my powers actually mocked me.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I slowly make may way to the Canberra Public Library, amazed that it was still intact. Well relatively intact. I step inside and amend that to partially intact. The back of the building had been crushed and many of the shelves had been knocked over. Piles of books lay everywhere.

Once inside I wasted no time in ransacking the entire building. I absorbed every single skill book I possibly find. Sadly, only a few of the books, foreign language primers and craft skills, raised my Int. I was disappointed in the fact that a skill book didn't work for me after I already had the skill, but not too surprised. It was how it worked in the Gamer after all.

I make a note to learn more languages later on. I also take a map to hunt down every other bookstore in town. Since Canberra is a major town, there's a lot. Which is good for me.

While making my way to the nearest bookstore I make discovery. The dungeon had an area limit. Not sure how large, but it took me hours to reach it so still big. I didn't reach it, but I could see it up ahead, a wall of grayish-white mist that marked the edge of the area. I end up wandering over and poking it with a stick. It just stops, like a wall is there. I try touching it and the same thing.

Thankfully the bookstore has a much better selection of books on crafting and languages. To be thorough I raid two other bookstores that are inside the ID. After that my Int is finally starting to actually look impressive.

More importantly I can remember more of the story. Finally. Important details are coming back and I meditate while I think about them.

First off, based on the events and the newspapers, it's February 24, 2011. So the story hadn't started. In fact, I have almost a month and a half before it does.

Second. I'm in Canberra during the Simurgh attack. I'm immune to her song, but no one else knows that. When I leave, everyone is going to be worried about me.

Third. Dragon saw me. She'll alert the authorities if she sees me. I likely can't hide from her. Especially with the child flaw. When I leave, I need to be ready.

Fourth. Canberra is going to be quarantined. Everyone inside is likely dangerous. Stressed as well. There are likely going to be a lot of new triggers. This would be the perfect place to recruit from. But with the Simurgh programming I can't afford to trust anyone here.

Fifth. I need powers. I can likely loot them from bodies with the Harvest the Fallen skill. Since they're all dangerous anyway...

I pause a moment as I realize my thoughts are basically directing me towards becoming a serial killer. After a moment I realize I'm actually following the path of Glaistig Uaine. After another I decide it doesn't matter. If the story stays the same, they all die anyway. Might as well make sure their deaths are of some benefit.

I definitely need to be stronger though if I'm going to start hunting capes. I go back to training.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

It's not fun, but by the end of the first day I've confident in my chances, at least with a normal person. I've looted over a dozen stores, including a gun store, and am trained my stats until all my physicals are above 20.

It's time to start scouting. I find a quiet alley nearby. _ID - Escape_.

"Shit. Cape!" The half strangled cry echoes from behind me. _Fuck_.

I turn to see a guy in dirty rags scrambling backwards. I can't have anyone identify me. Not yet. I had even chosen this alley since it didn't have any cameras.

I open my inventory for a gun when I freeze in shock. It was empty, completely empty.

I sigh. Of course, I probably can't remove anything except loot from an ID. Otherwise I could duplicate everything. Looks like I can't affect the normal world from inside an ID either since I remember tripping on that brick earlier and kicking it away.

The crashing of a trash can focuses my thoughts back onto the homeless person.

Well, looks like I'm doing this the hard way. _Observe_.

I ignore the wealth of details, mostly checking out his level and health. Level 3 and around 100 HP seem easy enough.

I scoop up the brick before chasing him. I easily catch him. I concentrate since I hadn't gotten a melee skill yet. I aim for the back of his neck. Hopefully a critical will end this in one strike. I couldn't afford to miss.

His neck didn't snap. I missed. Fortunately I still knocked him down. I raised my arms and swung as hard as I could. I didn't miss this time.

The head didn't fair any better. All that was left was a body that just ended at the shoulders.

I notice I now had items in my still open Inventory screen. I ignore all that for now since I can hear the sounds of footsteps getting closer. _ID Create - Empty_.

Safe for now.

How the hell did I do that? I check through my notices.

 _[ID Create's level has increased by 2]_

 _[Critical Hit! 195 damage dealt.]_

 _[LUK has increased by 1.]_

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Deadly Charge (Active 30) LVL 1 - 0%: A technique that deals enormous damage using the inertia of movement to increase the force of the blow. Range 21 ft. Increases damage by 102%.]_

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Power Strike (Active 10) LVL 1 - 0%: Increased the damage of a melee attack through the application of a burst of mana. Increases damage by 52%.]_

Two new skills. And mana based ones at that. Ahh, I see. I got a critical with the last attack.

Very nice. I definitely need to find a way to improve my chances of that. It also seems that my new skills can combine fairly easily. I bet a sneak attack skill would also stack with that. Something to keep in mind for later.

My Inventory had a few items. Thank god for Auto-loot.

I am now the proud owner of a pocket knife and some kind of gem. _Observe_.

 _[Common Soul Stone. Crafting Material.]_

WTF. So I'm like the grim reaper now?

Wait, where have I heard of soul stones before.

Elder Scrolls. Wow, this really is a mishmash of various games.

If it really is like in Elder Scrolls than soul stones are used in enchanting items. Definitely need more craft. Depending on the rules enchanting can be game changing.

Looking around, I notice the ID was different. Apparently now caught up with the changes in reality. I also realize that in the absence of society, everyone will began scavenging for resources.

Screw scouting for now, I go back to training.

While making my way to my next stop I practice juggling. Now that my stats were high enough I was capable of it and I use heavy enough objects it should help with more than one stat.

Juggling with weights actually proved be pretty effective, even more so than my jumping rope had been. Well, at least in travel time. Occasionally it even raised Vit when I drop one on my foot.

Several mind-numbingly boring hours later I stop when I receive a notice.

 _[New Perks Unlocked]_

I quickly load the Perks page and stare in confusion

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 1)**

 **Ant Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on Str and Dex by 5%)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **On a Dime (Skill, reduces the amount of time required to accelerate to maximum speed or reduce speed to 0.]**

 **Power Strike [Skill, LEARNED]**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

Huh. I check my stats real quick and my Str is the highest at 25. If I remember right the Gamer had gained a perk at that number. So I need to raise all of my stats to at least 25 then.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

 _[A new quest has been created.]_

 _[Well Rounded]_

 _[Raise all of your ability scores to 25.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

Yay common sense.

Hmm, if I remember right the gamer also got new perks at 50 and 100 as well. Definitely need to see what was available at 50. 100 seemed a bit distant, but obtainable with at least a few abilities.

 _[New quests created.]_

 _[Now Perfect]_

 _[Raise all of your stats to 50.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

 _[Exemplary]_

 _[Raise one of your ability scores to 100.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

Nice. I was already planning on doing so it was a nice bonus. The Fallout reference was useful. It meant people had a cap of 50. I wonder if that means their average is 25?

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

I also notice I now have the same sorting options for my Perks that I had for the Skills page.

It's annoying, but I go back to grinding. I haven't found a save or respawn feature and I'm taking no chances. By the time night had fallen I was actually getting tired of training.

Since I had managed to finally level Observe to 25, which seems the benchmark for numbers, I used it to check over my stats to see if I could learn anything new.

I barely remembered to turn my Aura off and meditate first. Seeing all the flavor text I dug into my options and turned off the basic descriptions. They didn't really tell me anything and a more detailed Observe would reveal everything anyway.

 **Name: None [may select one]**

 **Age: 8 [cannot be altered, Child flaw]**

 **Title: Gamer [Benefits: none]**

 **Semblance: Gamer**

 **Class: Mage [Int and Level grants 100 MP instead of 10. Regen rate based off Wis.]**

 **Level: 1 - 30%**

 **HP: 180/180 [Regen 2 / 30 sec]**

 **MP: 700/700 [Regen 1.5 / min]**

 **Stamina: 340/340 [Restore 100% after 3 min]**

 **Equip Load: 3/73 [Every increment of max load provides a stacking Encumbrance penalty of 30% to Str, Dex and End]**

 **Conditions: None**

 **Money: 120**

 **Str: 27 (40) [Effects physical force available, Inventory and Equip Load]**

 **Dex: 25 (40) [Effects speed]**

 **End: 21 (33) [Effects Stamina and Equip Load[**

 **Vit: 11 (17) [Effects overall health and HP]**

 **Int: 6 (6) [Effects MP]**

 **Wis: 15 (15) [Effects MP regeneration]**

 **Cha: 1 [Effects social interaction]**

 **Luk: 2 [Effects probability. Influences everything.]**

 **Points: 5**

I went over all of my screens with Observe and only Inventory told me something new. Testing confirmed it was a direct 1 pound per point of Str. Sadly, it was my base strength as my Aura didn't seem to factor into it. Definitely need to keep raising it.

The other thing of note was that living creatures could not be stored in my Inventory. I wonder what the limits are? Do they die if I place them there? Because that could be an amazing way to assassinate people, walk up and just push them into my Inventory. I shake myself from those thoughts, I'll test it later.

Seeing as my Endurance was so close I decided to keep training. Besides waiting until it was later at night might help.

Since I was mostly training End, I decided to run. I ran as fast as I could back and forth down the street carrying enough weight to slow me a bit. Since I knew I could train new skills I attempted to start and stop as quickly as possible. It wasn't long until I gained new notices.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Sprint (Active 10 Sta / min) LVL 1 - 0%: Increases top running speed by 0.5 mph)_

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[On a Dime (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Reduces the amount of time to reach top speed or stop by 1%]_

Sweet. Two new skills, both of which are useful.

Wanting to level Vit some as well I pushed until I lost at least half my health each time before resting and healing. Apparently that leveled up Vit wonderfully. By the time I reached 25 in End, Vit was already at 20 so I kept pushing until I reached 25 in Vit as well.

Curious I decided to see what new perks I had available.

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 1)**

 **Ambidexterity (no penalties for using your left hand or dual wielding)**

 **Ant Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on Str and Dex by 5%)**

 **Concentration (Skill, increased chance to ignore distractions and surprise)**

 **Fleet (Increase top speed by 2 mph)**

 **Inhuman Reflexes (Skill, increased chance to react to surprise)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **Long Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on End by 10%)**

 **On a Dime (Skill, LEARNED.]**

 **Pack Mule (Equip Load increases by 10 lbs)**

 **Power Attack [Skill, LEARNED]**

 **Rapid Reload (Skill, Reduce reloading time by 1%)**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

 **Toughness (Gain additional 1 HP per point of Vit)**

 **Vigorous (Gain additional 1 Sta per point of End)**

 **Well Rested (gain additional 10% XP from kills after sleeping)**

I was tempted by Ambidexterity simply because I was originally left handed. Using my right hand was didn't actually present any problems but was still mentally jarring and sometimes caught me by surprise. And of course, who doesn't love dual wielding?

Concentration I wasn't sure how to gain, but Rapid Reload should be easy enough to learn on my own. Well Rested seemed a waste since sleeping took so much time. In the end I decided to keep saving my point for now.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

It wasn't long before I had an idea. Most likely from my mind wandering due to boredom along with my raised Int. In every Gamer fic studying had raised their Int fairly quickly at the beginning. I sprint over to the college, gaining a few levels in it and break into their library. I look around until I find a Calculus textbook.

I had taken Calculus in college and while it had been a bit tedious, it hadn't been difficult. I was always good with math. I cracked open the book and started refreshing the material and moved my notice bar so anything new would appear in front of me.

Sure enough, less than an hour later I received my first notification. Now that I knew it was working I moved the notice bar back to the side and kept reading. Four hours later, I had finished the book and my Int was sitting at a very nice 19.

I had more than doubled my Int! I definitely needed to look over some other books. I had been a genius in my previous life, it seems like it wouldn't be long before I was one in this one as well.

I quickly exit the ID and load up the laptop. Then I proceed to special order every language and Do It Yourself book I could find. I make a few accounts to spread out the orders because I really don't want them to cancel any of the orders. I laugh in anticipation when I see that they would arrive within 3 days.

I dive back into my ID and proceed to study every advanced course book I could find. By the time my order arrived I was determined that my Int would have stopped leveling from studying.

Gamer's Body is pretty broken ability. Until you experience it, it's hard to realize how truly powerful it really it. Much more than besides the obvious it makes everything easier. Especially studying.

Studying for any length of time had a number of problems. Your eyes hurt after some time. Then your back and so on and so forth. You get an itch that breaks your concentration, you get thirsty, you have to use the restroom. The worst was becoming tired. There are loads of distractions, all of them slowing you down and all of them negated by Gamer's Body.

If I hadn't used set an alarm on my fancy new watch I might not have ever left the library. I lost three days in the library due to studying and loved every minute of it. If I had ever regretted not gaining a different power I don't anymore.

Hearing the alarm threw me for a loop. For a moment I couldn't believe what had happened. And then I looked over at the pile of textbooks I had studied over the past few days. It was huge. I had apparently moves tables without realizing it since the first had ended up buried.

Looking through my notice log I hadn't learned any new skills. What I had done was level both Speed Reading and my Int up like crazy.

Seeing how high I had gotten Int I immediately checked out the new perks.

 **Eidetic Memory (Perfect Memory and Recall)**

 **Mana Battery (Gain additional 1 MP per point of Int)**

 **Comprehension (May read skill books even if possess skill. May grant additional ranks.)**

Damn.

Well, looks like waiting paid off. Maybe too well. With the number of skill books I had available Comprehension would be a huge boost. Eidetic Memory might be even more important long term though. Although I can now recall much more about the series I can't recall it word for word.

It all depended on how often I get points. I'm an idiot. _Observe_.

 _[Perk Points: Points that can be used to purchase a Perk. May also be used with the Character Customization skill. Gain 1 per level. Additional points can be gathered through quests and other actions.]_

Well, that settles it. _Comprehension_.

 _[You have selected Comprehension. Confirm? Y/N]_

 _Yes_.

I immediately saw the text change to LEARNED.

The first thing I do is tear through the college library. There are quite a large number of skill books I can now use. To be expected since they teach subjects in depth. I also revisit both the library and the bookstore.

I let myself cackle in delight as I absorb stacks of books. I kept on eye on my progress, curious to see if I kept a ratio of 1 level per book. The ratio held, at least until I ran out of books. Sadly I didn't have near enough to max any of my skills.

It was tedious, but I know I'll always wonder if I missed something if I didn't. Sadly, the majority of the skills seemed completely useless although I guess I might need them some time in the future.

Although I'm not sure when I'll ever need Flower Arranging or Cake Decorating. Oh well. Unfortunately I had already read all the crafting and language books that were there. Both of which were the only skills to actually raised my Int.

I have raised my Cooking fairly high and am looking forward to seeing how much HP and MP the various meals I can now make will restore.

Comprehension was already proving itself worth the cost. With the new books I had gained another couple of points in Int. Int was now by far my highest stat. Hell, I'm approaching the 50 mark. With my current enormous mana reserves I needed do something with them. I couldn't afford to waste any resource.

The thought brings a realization. I needed to create spells.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

From other fanfics and the original gamer manga I remember roughly the process that was used. Basically they all gathered mana and then sculpted it into a shape. They learn different tricks and such, but that was the core principle.

So I concentrated. Focusing on willing mana into my hands. I felt a bit ridiculous but I could feel a slight tingle that I hoped meant it was working. And then the air an inch or so above my palm began glowing.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Mana Manipulation (Active Varies) LVL 1 - 0%: The ability to precisely control and mold mana. Decreases the cost of mana techniques by 0.25%. Increase Reserves by 0.1%]_

That wasn't expected. Useful though.

I kept concentrating. I was much easier now, likely due to the skill. I see bright glow as the mana gathers in my hand. I ignored all of the notices indicating Mana Manipulation was leveling.

I take my time as the light slowly brightens. As it gets brights the shape becomes distinct. As expected, it's a sphere. Soon enough I have a small glowing ball of light in my hand. I'm not remotely satisfied with just that though.

The ball slowly swells, expanding into the side of a golf ball as I carefully feed it more energy. I try compacting it and it's slippery, like trying to force a beach ball underwater, while it's covered in oil.

Predictably it explodes. I don't really care though and start the process again. I continue until I manage to finally compact it into the size of a marble.

Whenever I get low on mana I meditate and then dive right back into it. I am determined to master this technique. I also refuse to settle for a lesser technique that I will end up replacing later on.

For the next step I began feeding it even more energy. I concentrate all of it on the outside. I build a shell of energy. I keep trying. I want it to be solid.

As before I have a number of failures before I manage to get my shell to work.

And now another step. I stretch out the ball. Flattening and thinning it out into a narrow bar. This proves the hardest to do and I end up having to go back and reshape the ball before wrapping a shell around it.

I now have a needle of hardened energy. I wrap another layer of energy around it. More delicate, it was designed to stabilize the shell and the construct as a whole. This layer was designed to impart momentum. I already know the construct could fly. I've accidentally launched a few failures. No, I want this to speed towards the target like a bullet. I shift the layer just a bit and now it will twist, spinning it even as it accelerates it.

When I tested it, it was decent. It didn't cost too much mana and it dealt a fair amount of damage if the gouge I put in the concrete wall was any indicator. I had improved mana arrow, but not by much. The shell was fragile and exploded upon impact. I had just traded damage and armor penetration for distance.

Since I had gained a skill with each of my failed attempts I could see the details of each version. However I was far from satisfied with what I had.

I started over.

This time I started by gathering a much larger amount of mana. It was softball size easily. I then started to compress it again. It shrank down some, but not enough. I concentrated harder.

This spell would not beat me.

I went through the step again. The results were nice, but again the shell was too fragile.

No matter how I tried it kept failing.

In desperation I poured everything into it, willing the shell to become stronger, solid. Slowly I could feel it working. My palm started to ache. I ignored it. It was probably just from channeling so much man for so long. I was almost there.

The pain steadily grew sharper and I remembered that I shouldn't get aches. I couldn't give up now though, I was too close. The shell was still fighting me, not wanting to condense.

A searing pain in my hand almost broke my concentration. My world became the glowing shape as desperately blocked out everything but the spell. When I saw the skin burn off my hand I ignored it. It'll heal later. Blood started oozing out of the burn. I kept working.

I didn't notice at first as small droplets of my blood began floating upwards, towards my spell. I was too close to stop now, but I kept an eye on it. Hopefully it won't set it off early.

I held my breath when the first drop touched the spell, barely holding back a flinch at the anticipated explosion. When instead the spell changed color I almost lost it again in my surprise. The original spell had been white. It was now faint pink.

Slowly more drops floated into the spell. I realized that I could finally feel the shell hardening. I began wanting the blood to flow into the spell faster despite the pain I could still feel. It worked though, my blood began steadily flowing into the spell.

After a few more seconds of pure agony the spell had darkened to a deep red, the same color as my blood. My blood stopped floating upwards and I could feel the shell working perfectly. Almost absent mindedly I finished the last step and launched the spell at a car.

The results were unexpected. The bolt streaked forward, fast enough it looked like tracer round, although there was no crack from it breaking the sound barrier. It slammed into the car, easily going through the hull without exploding. Then the hood fell off to reveal that the engine of the car was shredded.

Looking at it I analyzed the results. It works like normal at first, better but not different. When it hit it punched through sine it was solid. It was supposed to explode right afterward though, but didn't. Instead it started unraveling I think. The blood must have stabilized the shell more than I realized. It didn't explode, it pulled apart into a jagged mess of spinning razors.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

This spell is awesome! I was still smiling at the result when I noticed all the new notifications. I had several for Mana Manipulation leveling. It was the last few that interested me.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[_ _Concentration (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: The ability to remain focused and react appropriately. 1% chance of ignoring distractions, 1% chance to ignore surprise]_

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Blood Magic (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: The use of blood to bolster spell casting. Decreases the cost of mana techniques by 0.1%. Spell control increased by 20.2%. Spells cast in this way cost HP in addition to MP. Spells deal an additional 10.1% damage. HP is increased by 0.1%]_

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Bloody Needle (Active 40 MP + 5 HP) LVL 1 - 0%: A crystallized projectile of mana and blood. Damage increases by both Int and Vit. 25% armor penetration.]_

When I check the time I realize I lost hours mastering my new skill. I really need to start setting up periodic alarms. But it was worth it in the end.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I was happy with my spells but ended up resolving to save them for emergencies for now. They were distinctive enough that it would give me away automatically once I left Canberra. For now I needed a way to hunt capes in the city without my more obvious skills.

Besides, it will be pretty obvious I've got some kind of teleport or dimensional pocket power. No need to draw too much attention to myself this early. I had a number of options available but for now I settled for guns. While searching the city I had easily located several gun safes in stores. At least some should still be intact.

I dropped out of ID intending to go back in immediately when I saw the notice.

 _[ID Create's level has increased by 2]_

 _[ID Create: new options available]_

Well that's worth a moment. I take a look at the skill.

 **ID Create (Active 100 mp) LVL 5 - 11%: Allows for the creature of dimensional pockets. Pockets are destroyed upon leaving.**

 **Current Dungeons available: Training, Empty, Zombies**

 _ID Create - Training_.

Huh. It gave me a notice that XP cannot be earned in this ID and if I die it'll automatically kick me out instead. Well, looks like I know where I'll try any risky experiments. It also pulls up a menu. I have to select the default ID, either empty or zombies. I'm going to go with Empty for now. Another menu.

Wow. Ambient temperature controls. Barometric pressure. Precipitation. And on and on.

It looks like I can set up any kind of weather I want inside the area. I laugh as I set it up to be sunny and warm. When the ID forms around me I laugh as I see the sun bright and cheery above me, so very unlike the overcast day I had been in. Well, looks like I might just conduct all of my training in here.

I also move to change clothes when I pause then face palm. I hadn't actually started sweating and I hadn't felt cold this entire time. I had Gamer's Body. Unless the temperature was enough to damage me I probably would never notice it.

Although that does mean I will have to pay attention or be suspected as a Brute. It's hard to pretend to be normal when your walking through snow in shorts and sandals.

I make my way to the first of the cache of guns I had noticed. I am careful to use my Stealth skill this time. I don't want to be surprised again. It pays off. I hear several voices ahead of me, near where the gun safe is located.

I peek around the corner and see it's only two guys so I shrug and Bloody Needle them both. The spell might have been overkill seeing as they both exploded into tiny chunks when hit. Oh well, better safe then sorry.

I use the same spell to break the lock. Pistols, rifles, shotguns I took them all. Plenty of ammunition for all of them as well. I took the tools to maintain them along with lots of accessories. Since I was strong enough now I even took an ammo press.

Wanting to test an idea I had I placed a pistol and a box of ammo in the floor before re-entering an ID. I picked up both of them before loading the pistol and using all the ammo. Then I dropped out. I laughed out loud for a moment before realizing where I was. I quickly grabbed the two items before escaping into an ID again.

Once I get to a reasonably remote area I laid out all of my guns and ammo in neat stacks next to me before creating an ID. I then spent a few hours raising my Firearms Mastery alongside Rapid Reload, which was as easy to learn as I had hoped. When I used all the ammo, I just exited and loaded up another ID.

Bored with just shooting, I decided to level Vit as well. Sadly this meant that I had to stop training my Aura. I tried aiming so that the ricochets would strike me. The first time I managed it I was surprised at how little it hurt. Stabbing myself had been worse at the beginning.

It turns out deliberately aiming your ricochets is crazy difficult. Thanks to unlimited ammo though I could afford to keep trying until I learned. It also leveled my Firearms Mastery amazingly fast and I reached 25 with it easily enough. It also netted me a few additional points in Dex, probably due to the difficulty in aiming so precisely.

I don't stop there though. When I got bored of training I went looking for more guns. I quickly make my way to as many caches of guns and supplies as I can find. Even though it's been less than a week many of them have already been ransacked. The few that weren't usually had someone guarding or working on breaking into it. I use my new stash of guns to wipe them out.

The only problem came the first time I ran into a cape. Based on his gear he was a Tinker. The items he carried didn't seem too powerful either, looking like they were built out of what he salvaged from a fast food restaurant.

The problem came when I underestimated him. I did shoot him first, but then started gunning down his minions. To be fair, there were over a dozen of them. So when the Tinker got up, his wound steaming as it slowly closed, I paused in shock.

Horrible idea. Even as I watched, several of the others I had shot were likewise recovering. After that I took him much more seriously.

I started casting Bloody Needles as fast as I could. I got shot several times. Thank god for Bludgeoning Resistance. Between that and Aura nothing they had did more than a few points of damage. I ended up taking a lot more damage from my casting. I won in the end though, mostly through attrition.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Cape Conflict.]_

 _[Have your first fight against a parahuman.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

So hidden objectives and they count as quests. If it's based off the CYOAs I need to perform stereotypical landmark actions.

I was happy to get my first power though. I promptly read the Skill Book he had dropped and gasped as I realized how dangerous he could have been. Besides the odd healing buff they all had there were ideas for turning meals into permanent buffs. They took time, but the potential was incredible. I found schematics for machines that could create food from garbage as well as flavor enhancers that basically turned meals into drugs. Tinkers are insane.

After that brush with death I decided to avoid all capes until I was far more prepared. Which first meant training, a lot more training. Even with Aura boosting me to the peak of human fitness it was clear to me that I wasn't ready to face off regularly against other parahumans. More than anymore I probably need combat experience. With that in mind I decide that I am finally ready to risk my safety in a dungeon.

With that resolve in mind, I climb on top of the tallest building left. _ID Zombies_.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

 **Status**

 **Name: None**

 **Age: 8**

 **Title: Gamer**

 **Semblance: Gamer**

 **Class: Mage**

 **Level: 1 - 30%**

 **HP: 464/464**

 **MP: 5056/5056**

 **Stamina: 470/470**

 **Equip Load: 3/94**

 **Conditions: None**

 **Money: 120**

 **Str: 27 (48)**

 **Dex: 25 (45)**

 **End: 26 (46)**

 **Vit: 25 (45)**

 **Int: 46 (48)**

 **Wis: 17 (18)**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Luk: 4**

 **Points: 5**

 **Skills**

 **Apprentice (Passive) LVL Max: Allows user to potentially learn any power or skill as long as they meet the base ability and skill requirements. Upon achieving Mastery may craft a Skillbook for others to learn. This may not be done with Core Skills.**

 **Aura (Passive/Active 15 mp/min) LVL 30 - 91%: The light of your soul empowering you.**

 **-Passive: Provides a 80% bonus to all physical ability scores. Increase natural healing speed by 100%.**

 **-Active: Additional 80% bonus to all physical ability scores. Natural healing rate increased by 3 HP. Reduce all damage by 15%.**

 **Blood Magic (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: The use of blood to bolster spellcasting. Spells cast in this way cost HP in addition to MP. Decreases the cost of mana techniques by 0.1%. Decreases the HP cost of such spells by 0.5%. Spells deal an additional 10.1% damage.**

 **Bloody Needle (Active 40 MP + 5 HP) LVL 1 - 0%: A crystallized projectile of mana and blood. Damage increases by both Int and Vit. 25.5% armor penetration.**

 **Bludgeoning Resistance (Passive) LVL 25 - 0%: A skill that makes the body's durability increase, reducing damage taken. Reduces bludgeoning damage by 25.**

 **Character Customization (Active 1 PP) LVL Max: May spend a Perk Point to automatically create a new skill or Perk as long as meet all the requirements. May also spend a Perk Point to modify a skill.**

 **Cooking (Active) LVL 32 - 0%: Grants the user the ability to prepare consumable ingested items.**

 **Concentration (Passive) LVL 12 - 35%: The ability to remain focused and react appropriately. 12% chance of ignoring distractions.**

 **Craft (Active) LVL 33 - 0%: Grants the user the ability to create items.**

 **Deadly Charge (Active 30) LVL 1 - 0%: A technique that deals enormous damage using the inertia of movement to increase the force of the blow. Range 21 ft. Increases damage by 102%.**

 **Firearms Expertise (Passive) LVL 25 - 6%: Grants the user the ability to weild firearms effectively. Attack 75% faster.**

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) LVL Max: Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) LVL Max: Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immune to psychological status effects.**

 **Harvest the Fallen (Passive) LVL 1 - 3%: Allows for the generation of loot from everything that dies within a certain area. Area is a 10 meter radius centered on the user. Area increased by 500% inside a dungeon.**

 **ID Create (Active 100 mp) LVL 6 - 44%: Allows for the creature of dimensional pockets. Pockets are destroyed upon leaving.**

 **-Current Dungeons available: Training, Empty, Zombies**

 **ID Escape (Active 50 mp) LVL 2 - 20%: Allows user to leave a dimensional pocket.**

 **Linguistics (Passive) LVL 23 - 0%: Allows user to understand and use a number of differing languages. Reduce the time to learn new languages by 23%.**

 **Mana Manipulation (Active Varies) LVL 22 - 1%: The ability to precisely control and mold mana. Decreases the cost of mana techniques by 5.5%. Increase MP Reserves by 2.2%.**

 **Meditation (Passive / Active) LVL 13 - 80%:**

 **-Passive: Increases both Int and Wis by 6%**

 **-Active: Additionally increase MP regeneration rate by 42 points**

 **Melee Combat (Passive) LVL 15 - 0%: Through extensive study of differing styles the user has mastered the art of close combat. Attack speed and damage increased by 30%.**

 **Observe (Active) LVL 27 - 49%: Allows user to quickly gather information about target.**

 **On a Dime (Passive) LVL 5 - 1%: Reduces the amount of time to reach top speed or stop by 5%.**

 **Power Strike (Active 10) LVL 1 - 0%: Increased the damage of a melee attack through the application of a burst of mana. Increases damage by 52%.**

 **Rapid Reload (Passive) LVL 10 - 4%: Reduce reloading time by 10%.**

 **Slashing Resistance (Passive) LVL 25 - 0%: A skill that makes the body's durability increase, reducing damage taken. Reduces slashing damage by 25.**

 **Speed Reading (Passive) LVL 22 - 28%: Increase user's reading speed by 440 wpm with 100% comprehension.**

 **Sprint (Active 10 Sta / min) LVL 12 - 33%: Increases top running speed by 6 mph**

 **Stealth (Active) LVL 2 - 26%: The ability to sneak around unnoticed.**

 **Use Computer (Passive) LVL 22 - 0%: Grants the user the ability to program and hack software.**

 _ **Misc (a large number of other skills including but not limited to Accounting, Animal Handling, Cake Decorating, Catering, Cosmetics, Disguise, Driving, Flower Arranging, Gardening, Interior Design, Landscaping, Massage, Piloting, Swimming, etc)**_

 **Perks** **(Available Points: 1)**

 **Blind Spot: Immune to precognition.**

 **Comprehension: May read skill books even if possess skill. May grants additional ranks.**

 **Special Snowflake: User powers cannot be copied, drained, reproduced, stolen or suppressed.**

 **Powers**

 **Tinker (Food): Gain +100 Craft and Cooking when dealing with anything related to edible consumables.**


	3. Basically Zombies

Chapter 2: Basically Zombies

My first impression of the zombie ID was that it didn't look any different. I made a quick check and the building itself was clear. Not that there was really any place to hide since the interior was gutted. Looking around from my vantage point it seems the dungeon was the same size as the Empty ID.

Movement down below attracted my attention and I saw my first zombie. It didn't look like the stereotypical zombie from media. While it was clearly rotting the flesh was blackened as if burned. It still had the same shambling walk though, which was a relief. I had half feared that they would be closer to the creatures from Left4Dead.

A clang showed that one had bumped into the bottom of the fire escape. Perfect. _Observe_.

 _[Reanimated Corpse, Lvl 2]_

 _[HP: 150]_

 _[Str: 30, Dex: 2]_

 _[A human body serving as a flesh puppet. As a construct does not possess End, Vit, Int, Wis, Cha or Luk.]_

Besides the description, which was interesting to note, the stats seemed much lower than I had feared. The puppet part was a bit odd. I wonder if there is a reason it didn't just call it a zombie.

I check and the rifle along with the box of clips are just where I had dumped them. I am never going to need to buy ammo for a dungeon run. I quickly grab the rifle and using the scope quickly shoot it in the head. I hadn't bothered using a silencer since I wanted to attract attention.

The zombie collapses but doesn't explode. Checking the screen shows I haven't gained any XP or loot. I go back to watching and see some kind of white beetle with red markings crawl out of the body. What on Earth? _Observe_.

[Corpse Beetle, Lvl 1]

[HP: 1, MP: 100]

[Str: 1, Dex: 2, End: 4, Vit: 1]

[Essentially mindless and only capable of following instincts it does not possess an Int, Wis, Cha or Luk score. Capable of reanimating human corpses. It is capable of maintaining and repairing the corpse they inhabit.]

The hell? I quickly shoot the beetle and note with satisfaction the changes in my screens indicating I received both loot and XP. I don't have time to examine either though since the pair of shots had drawn a crowd of zombies.

I started shooting them down as they climbed the fire escape, but position made targeting the beetles a pain. The problem was that the zombies weren't giving me anything. The beetles were leaving their broken flesh puppets and entering other zombies.

I didn't really see the point since a head shot seemed to destroy them still. I had used an entire clip trying other shots and besides one where I got lucky and hit the beetle it didn't seem to do much. The body would fall and the beetle would use some kind of black threads to sew it back up and then it would get up.

I figured the beetles would eventually run out of bodies and I could then hunt them down. Which wasn't dangerous, just really annoying. That was when I saw a group of the bodies spasming off to the side.

They were all headless and a small swarm of beetles were crawling over them. I kept an eye on them and saw that they were stitching the bodies together into odd patchwork amalgams comprised mostly of limbs.

When it got up and suddenly raced towards me I was definitely shocked. I started shooting at it automatically, but there wasn't a head anymore. As it started climbing over the fire escape I shot a few limbs off, which slowed it down only slightly. As it neared the top I sighed. _Bloody Needle_.

My spell tore through the creature, shredding it like it was placed in a blender. I received a number of notifications even as a small rain of unattached limbs rained down.

Below I could see several more patchwork creatures getting up and even more being formed. Clearly I need a new strategy. _ID Escape_.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

As I sit and lean back I think about the dungeon. Engaging in melee might end up being a better choice if I can vaporize the bodies with my attacks. I think I also need an area of effect attack. For now, lets see what I've gotten.

I am finally level 2, the last attack had given me just enough XP. It's when I check my Inventory that I was slightly worried. Besides money I had received two items. Grimm Silk and Grimm Carapace.

Grimm.

I know I had Aura, but I hadn't expected this. Thinking about it, I hadn't come across any reference to Grimm in any of my reading or studying. It was unlikely that I'd miss something that big so easily.

As I think about it, the only conclusion I can come up with is that this is the result of a crossover choice from the CYOA. If I remember I had selected It Gets Worse with a RWBY crossover in the second version. This version must not have that option, which I'm honestly glad for. This world is dangerous enough as it is.

Heh, the notification for my Wis increasing supports me. Thank god for that.

I had actually worried if I was overtrained for the dungeon. In some ways I was, but I could have easily died if I hadn't had such an advantageous position. Despite my abilities I definitely want a backup option.

While I consider my options I start popping in and out of an empty ID. Just in case it make a difference I want to make sure my ID Escape skill is a high enough level. After a few times I start using the zombie dungeon. I'd pop in and use Bloody Needle on a few zombies and then leave.

After a few times I turned on my Aura to keep up with my HP loss. I meditated whenever my MP ran low and mostly enjoyed the fact I was actually gaining XP while training up several skills.

I'm having to stop to heal more often than meditate though and I go back to using the rifle and even sometimes Mana Bolt, which do comparable damage.

It's only after I gain a point of Vit that I realize I've only really been boosting my offensive abilities. I open an empty ID to start working on another skill I remember from the Gamer, Mana Shield.

With how high my Mana Manipulation is, it doesn't take long to create it. I eagerly look over it's description.

 _[Mana Shield (Active 60 MP / min) LVL 1 - 0%: A hardened, directionally permeable shell of mana that protects the user by absorbing a portion of incoming damage. Single shell absorbs 1 point from attacks and can absorb a total number of points equal to the user's Int.]_

Since it seemed a bit underwhelming I use Blood Magic to create a version of it next.

 _[Blood Shield (Active 40 HP + 80 MP) LVL 1 - 0%: A blood infused mana shield that protects the user by absorbing a portion of incoming damage. Single shell absorbs (1 + 25% of Vit) points from attacks and can absorb a total number of points equal to the user's Int + Vit. Maintaining the shield costs 80 MP / min.]_

The Blood Shield was much more powerful right off from the start, although it did come with a pretty high HP cost. The best part however was that it took a shape that clung much closer to my body. Since it didn't really act like a shield I renamed the second spell Blood Armor.

Since I was creating spells I built one last one. An AoE to fill in that gap. Basically a Bloody Needle but spherical and much, much larger.

 _[Blood Bomb (Active 200 MP + 20 HP) LVL 1 - 0%: A large sphere of mana designed to explode. Damage increases with both Int and Vit. 20% armor penetration.]_

Ok. No more excuses. I'm going to try again.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Cautious person that I am I do make a single test run for Blood Bomb. As expected, it was fairly devastating, wiping out every zombie in an enormous area. The damage isn't too extensive, much less then the Bloody Needle, but the scale was impressive.

I did make a Mana Bomb just for comparison and it was so much weaker it was pitiful, it didn't even cover the same area. It seems that pure mana didn't propagate too well on its own. Besides that and the damage the other major difference seemed to be that the Blood Bomb had a much more sharply defined border of effect.

After that though I dropped in, ready to actually fight and hopefully clear the dungeon. I had dropped all of my weapons in preparation and the first thing I did was to pick them all up. Hopefully I wouldn't need them, but better to be ready.

I shot a pair of zombies with the rifle and waited a second before sniping their beetles as they emerged. Then I jumped off the tower towards the closest zombie on the ground. _Aura_. _Deadly Charge_.

The zombie pretty much vaporized. I took a moment to confirm that it had worked and the beetle was dead before continuing. I also realize how much overkill that was if the entire body had been destroyed. Out of curiosity I used Power Strike on the next and sigh when it doesn't explode even with the critical. I waste a second strike to kill the beetle.

I danced back and forth inside the ever growing crowd of zombies, using Deadly Charge to keep killing them fast enough to keep an space clear in the center. Though like a dam breaking under a flood, I couldn't hold them back forever. Eventually I miss. I still hit, but without the critical from hitting the head it didn't explode. I had to waste another attack to kill the beetle.

I lose too much momentum and struggle to keep up. I'm losing room to maneuver rapidly. Soon I wouldn't have enough room to activate charge anymore. Time to change tactics.

 _Mana Shield. Blood Armor_.

I feel the layers of protection wrap around me and go on an all out attack. I don't bother defending, freely letting the zombies strike me in return for attacking even faster. I lash out over and over even as my health steadily drops.

I keep an eye on my health and when it gets below a hundred I jump out of the crowd, channeling mana to boost me. At the top of my newly gained Power Leap I drop a Blood Bomb. The explosion destroys the majority of the zombies gathered below along with most of the fire escape.

I take a moment to eat some snacks before realizing that the zombie were no longer moving towards me. Instead they are gathering at a spot several hundred yards away.

Show time.

I glance at my stats quickly and see my HP is just over a hundred. I have over half my MP left and that should be plenty. Seeing where the zombies are gathering Power Leap to the nearest warehouse. I drop a Blood Bomb even as the zombies start to melt into each other.

I watch them form a single enormous misshapen figure. Observe.

 _[Lesser Legion Puppet, Lvl 22]_

 _[HP: 7000]_

 _[An amalgamation of human bodies melded together to serving as a guardian. Corpse Beetles instinctively create these when they detect a powerful threat. Heavily damaged during it's construction, it is much weaker than normal. As a construct does not possess End, Vit, Int, Wis, Cha or Luk.]_

I stare at the rest information. 7000 HP and it was weaker than it was supposed to be? Thank god it wasn't invulnerable while forming.

I take out one of the rifles and start shooting it while running away on the rooftops. Being so slow should mean I could pick it off at leisure. After a few shots I notice that I'm hardly doing any damage. I also see the that the damage is healing, thankfully not much faster than a normal zombie, but it is still another problem.

It's obvious guns aren't going to help. I drop it and pull out some snacks. I eat as I keep running away. I also drop Mana Shield and Blood Armor. I'm going to need all of my mana and it wasn't like they'd help against something that size.

Once I'm far enough away I Stealth and creep off to the side a bit and began eating as fast as possible. I doubt he'll give me enough time to meditate.

It turns out I was right. The building I had last been standing on tears apart as the Legion Zombie plows through it. Not seeing me it starts destroying all of the surrounding buildings. It was just my luck that he picked my building to destroy first. I knew he hadn't seen me since I had been hiding behind a solid brick wall. Stupid luck, not supposed to let things like this happen anymore.

I scramble out of the rubble and realized I had only lost a little health. So maybe my luck did help. Fuck it. I activate my Aura. I need the boost and it isn't like hiding has worked so far. I cast a Blood Bomb at it's head and while it flinches, it didn't do too much damage.

I Charge and as soon as I hit one leg I Charge the other. I bounce back and forth, Power Striking the entire time as he tries to alternatively avoid me.

When one foot raises higher than normal for a moment I hope it was falling. I barely Leap out of the way of it's stomp. The shock wave still knocks me down.

I check it's stats and see in disbelief that it was only just under 5000. Even as I watch it ticks up steadily, refilling at a rate of 1 per second.

I resume running away, eating as many snacks as possible. I'm going to need a critical hit to really make it hurt and I finally had a plan. I stealth and shift to the next building before sprinting off to the side. Behind me I hear the building being demolished.

After a pause I hear the roar as it caught sight of me again. That was fine, I had enough of a lead. I leap back up onto my base and run to the other side, stealthing after I do so.

I tense, feeling the ground shake with it's approach, the timing was going to have to perfect. I quickly spend a Perk Point on Ambidexterity and seeing that I had several I buy Toughness as well, seeing my HP immediately gain over 50 HP. I grab Eidetic Memory as well. If my plan works I'm definitely going to want to remember this and if doesn't it isn't like I'll regret spending the point.

As soon as the building starts tipping over I leap as high as I can straight up. As soon I cleared the falling building I see the legion zombie already swinging for me. I activate Bloody Needle and then Deadly Charge at the same spot.

The charge drags me through the air behind my spell and the zombies fist overshoots me. Just before I hit, I see the spell punch a hole deep inside it's forehead. I land on the now armored skull and barely damage it. I was exactly where I wanted to be however and pause a second hoping it will do the obvious, cliche thing.

As soon as I saw the massive hand swinging up to slap down on me I pushed away. I cast Bloody Bomb directly into the hole in it's head even as I Deadly Charged straight down to it's foot.

I never made it. Even as I neared it flashed a brilliant white and shattered into pieces. I have never been so happy to see the ground.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

After exiting the zombie ID just in case I look at my health and as expected it was sitting at 48. That was close. I still had a reserve in case I needed it, but not much of one. I also take note of a new notice.

 _[Quest complete.]_

 _[Back from the Depths.]_

 _[Clear your first dungeon.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

Back on top of the building I read through the notice log to see how to fight went. Piecing it together I realize if it hadn't hit itself I might likely would have had to cast again. I'd have still won probably, but I didn't like how close it had been. I also note that I received a point of Wisdom at the end of the fight, most likely from my planning.

I take a minute to savor my victory. I was far closer than I had wanted, but very satisfying at the same time. It was only the distraction of having to keep such a close watch on my stats that kept me from fully enjoying the battle. I couldn't wait until I was powerful enough to not have to worry about such things. Sadly I probably wouldn't get any much if any XP from such fights, but it would still be fun.

Of course, I'll still get loot. With that bright thought, I check out my inventory. Lots of petty soul gems, definitely an Elder Scrolls influence, along with more Grimm Silk and Chitin Plates. It looks like the Legion Puppet just dropped multiples of the same, along with a lesser soul gem. The last item was the best. It was what I had been hoping for. A skill book.

Life Drain. I had so many ideas for that spell. I had toyed with the idea of creating it myself, but you had to have an idea of how a spell works before you can make it. Sadly, I had no idea as to the mechanics. But with this I didn't need to.

With this, so much will be available. I can adapt it for healing, another spell I had no idea how to create. I can even improve it. Death Field had been one of my favorite force abilities from KOTOR and I definitely wanted it.

Eagerly I absorbed the skill book.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Necrotech (Active) LVL 1 - 0%: The ability to reanimate dead flesh through infusing it with energy. Higher ranks allows for the construction of more elaborate constructs using appropriate materials.]_

What is this? Where's my Life Drain? And necrotech, that's Exalted. That's...not bad, but not actually very powerful without access to Oblivion energy. Hmm, what would I need to be able to wield Oblivion energy?

 _[Requirements not met. Requires Level 100, Vit 200, Int 70, Cha 200, Skill: Necromancy LVL 100.]_

Holy crap. So not any time soon, if ever.

Wait. Necromancy? So another magic type.

 _[Requirements not met. Requires access to negative energy.]_

And no idea on how to get that. I drop the search, this could end up taking forever. Some other time.

Sigh. So they changed this too. Disappointed I flip through my notebook of ideas. I had started it earlier to keep track of all of my ideas so I didn't forget any. Now that I have Eidetic Memory I'm not sure if I really need it anymore. Although it will probably still come in handy, if only to organize my thoughts.

Hmmm. Wisdom increases every time I make a good decision. Tactical planning counts towards this process. A huge grin appears on my face as I get an awesome idea.

I need video games.

More specifically, I need strategy games that involve resource management and complicated units. Games that require careful consideration and decisions, lots of decisions. Oh, and another idea. This time for luck. Gambling. Something involving dice or something. Shouldn't be too hard to find something that fits that description.

Wow. I hadn't realized just how many computer programming books I had absorbed after I gained Comprehension. A 31 without any practice? That's crazy. I guess with all the tinkers out there programming benefited indirectly because I know a lot more programming languages than I had even heard of in my past life.

Getting the games turned out to be easier and more trouble than I had first thought. Raiding one of the malls for what I needed turned swiftly into a cape fight. Should have expected there would be squatters.

I don't think they cared about the items I was after, but then again, they might have. Either way, several of them saw me and raised the alarm. A few quick shots dropped the sentries, but then something really odd happened. Each of the remaining people seemed to ripple and then they were covered in armor.

The armor was obviously a parahuman power. It didn't look remotely realistic. Instead it looked a lot like some drew cel-shaded plate armor on top of each person. It made me wonder for a moment whether I was the only person with video game themed powers.

As silly as it looked the armor was unmistakably tough. None of the guns I tried would punch through the armor. A Bloody Needle still works though. I tore through one of them and his armor fell apart into splatters of ink. Interesting.

By that point I'm assuming their leader appeared. She was wearing much higher quality armor. Richly colored and covered in fine detail it was pretty impressive. Cel-shading at it's finest. She was also carrying an enormous shield which she used to block my opening spell. It gouged it, but didn't actually break through.

A sudden loud hissing was my only warning before four snakes seemed to swim through the air to lunge at me. They were fast and completely caught me by surprise. I panicked and did something I knew was dumb.

I threw a Blood Bomb.

The explosion was just as enormous as I remembered. I groan. I'm just glad I don't seem to feel nearly as much pain as before. I'm pretty sure that would have sucked.

I have to dig my out. A shelf fell on me, but it's easy enough to shove to the side. Thank you high strength. As soon as I'm clear I look around.

Almost everyone else had been sent flying. The exception was the gang leader. She was still there, glaring at me over the puddle of ink that used to be her shield. Damn, that's impressive. From her wrist I could see the remains of the snakes melting down as well. At least something went right.

I wanted to whistle in appreciation but didn't have time. With a flick of her wrist, one of the designs on her armor seemed to animate and grow out of her armor. When it's mouth started smoking I retreated into an ID. She can make freaking dragons. That's crazy.

I didn't actually leave. I really really wanted her power. It just seemed too useful not to collect. I dropped out a fair distance away. The group seemed to have huddled together and I cast a Blood Bomb into the middle of them. I flicked a Bloody Needle at the dragon's head before it could breathe fire and smirked when it melted. I also noticed her armor lost the design on it. Hmmm, so there are limits. Probably involving preparation time.

I cast another bomb to keep everyone off their feet before spamming Bloody Needles at her. They shredded her armor only to reveal another layer underneath. And of course, it was also covered in designs. I'm just glad we're indoors since the wings she grew would have let her run away otherwise.

The tail launching spikes actually caught me surprise since I was busy dodging the pack of wolves she had summoned. I should have suspected the things could detach from her. The impact knocked me down and I had to retreat into an ID again.

I Power Leap and exit at the top of my arc. Another bomb clears away the wolves and I target one of her wings with a needle before IDing away again. She tries to run at that point, but I really wanted her power. She also seems to have finally run out of abilities. A quick bullet to the back of her head and she goes down.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Gang War.]_

 _[Defeat your first villain.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

So another hidden objective. Nice.

As I expected, no one really seemed to care about computer games and they were pretty much untouched. Even most of the computers were there. Most likely since utilities weren't working. I end up looting the entire place before leaving although I do leave enough supplies for the rest to survive if they come back. There was no point trying to find them all, and besides, some of them might gain interesting new powers.

There were no generators to be found so I improvised. I tore apart a truck engine along with some other cobbled together supplies and created my own. With Craft so high it was pretty simple. Then I retreated through an ID back to the building that was rapidly becoming my base. I stashed the supplies in one of the few remaining room inside the building and IDed to use it's copy.

While setting up my new gaming rig I used my new skill book.

 _[Using this Skill book will replace your current Power. Confirm?]_

The hell? I'm only allowed to have one power?

Damn it.

In the end I hit yes. The tinker food are powerful, but will just take too long to really affect me. I do grab her body though as well as make my way back for the tinker's body. It was a little rat eaten, but still plenty viable according to my Observe. If I grab Blasto's power I can clone them and make copies of their powers.

I think about the issue for awhile before two solutions present themselves. Three actually, but one just didn't seem worth the risk. Eidolon has a good power, but I have no idea what my subconscious will do.

The first seems the best. Glaistig Uaine's ability to harvest other cape's powers and manifest them seems ideal. I can even try for Eidolon to increase the number I can manifest. I'm going to have to kill him at some point since he's the one who keeps summoning Endbringers.

The second is a bit riskier. The Butcher. Given my abilities I think I could have a decent chance at killing her. I'm immune to precognition so her Danger Sense won't work. I just need to get strong enough to actually hurt her.

Gamer's Mind means I won't be influenced by the previous Butchers. The best part is Harvest might also drop Skill Books, allowing me to empower someone else or gain stronger variations of the Butcher's powers.

Of course I still will need to get to them both for their powers. Or. I smile in inspiration. Or I just need to kill a clone of theirs. And didn't Blasto start working with a DNA database he got from Accord? One that had samples of everyone?

As for other powers I collect? I'm not exactly sure. I'd go the minions route if I could. I know it'd be the best way, but so far I haven't found a Party Mode. Probably requires a high Charisma, which means I might never unlock it.

Oh well, I have my goal now.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

To reach my goal unfortunately requires going back to training. Lots of training. At least playing games isn't monotonous. When I had selected the games I avoided the Earth Aleph imports. I have a whole new world of choices and intend to enjoy them all, or at least a good portion of them. Thankfully they had the stereotypical cheap game section that included lame mysteries and fake casinos.

Preparations complete, I drop into a zombie ID, which is really misleading name. I settle myself down, activate stealth and a number of other spells and load the first game. Only a few minutes in I notice that flesh puppets, screw it, I'm calling them zombies.

Only a few minutes in, I notice the zombies gathering around the building. Peeking over the side shows they're all looking at me.

Hmmm. I'm an idiot.

I pop out, drop Aura and re-enter. Sure enough, they don't find me automatically. They're Grimm. Aura acts like a lure. Until my Stealth is crazy high I probably have no chance of hiding while my Aura is up.

Oh well. I still activate Mana Shield and Blood Armor before hiding again. And damn. Apparently mana is the same energy Aura is, so they can still sense it.

Fine. I pop out and don't put my Aura or any spells this time. None of the zombies approach.

Finally.

I spend several fairly peaceful hours playing games, sadly without sound since I need to hear if anything tries to get to me. I play my way through the campaign of a few of the games before switching to the gambling games. I barely kept myself from cheering when I received my first point of Luk.

I was right about the stealth as well. I leveled pretty fast, especially when I threw a Blood Bomb the next street over. All the zombies in the area started searching the area and I enjoyed watching my skill steadily increasing.

Eventually stealth started drastically slowing down. Probably too high for the zombies now. I had gotten a fair number of ability points so I was happy. I still stayed though, even a trickle of experience was better than nothing and my primary goal were still the games.

I eventually left when the generator died. I almost kicked myself when that happened. I had loaded the generator with enough fuel to run for days. It running out of fuel was probably bad. Checking my watch revealed that yes, I had just lost several days. Again.

I do finally set my watch with a vibrating alarm every 8 hours. I actually feel stupid when I get a point of Wis for that act.

Still, it was well worth it. I had managed to get both abilities to the coveted 25 mark, if not well past. Roulette turns out to be great game for Luck and I can load multiple instances of the game at the same time. Horribly boring and I'm not sure if I want to do it again anytime soon.

Depends on the perks I guess. And on that note I load the perks page, filtering out the ones I've already learned.

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 6)**

 **Ant Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on Str and Dex by 5%)**

 **Catching a Break (less likely to be unlucky soon after being unlucky, the worse the occurrence the less likely there is another occurrence)**

 **Fleet (Increase top speed by 2 mph)**

 **Inhuman Reflexes (Skill, increased chance to react to surprise)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **Jinx (Skill, allows user to curse target with bad luck. Minor annoyances will occur throughout duration. Cannot cause death.]**

 **Long Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on End by 10%)**

 **Lucky Streak (good luck increases chance of additional good luck)**

 **Mana Battery (Gain additional 1 MP per point of Int)**

 **Minimap (Skill, provides abstract information tool)**

 **Pack Mule (Equip Load increases by 10 lbs)**

 **Serenity (Skill, allows user to perform other actions without breaking meditation)**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

 **Soul Eater (User may consume Soul Gems to replenish their MP. Amount gained dependent on quality of Soul Gem.)**

 **Toughness (Gain additional 1 HP per point of Vit)**

 **Vigorous (Gain additional 1 Sta per point of End)**

 **Well Rested (gain additional 10% XP from kills after sleeping)**

Huh. I quickly flick to my perks and see Toughness there as well. Nice. Looks like I can take it more than once. However, there are a number of perks I now want. It is irritating that there are so many skills listed that I want and have absolutely no idea on how to create.

The luck perks don't seem terribly useful either. Unless I'm horribly bored I can't see myself training my Luck to 50. Wisdom though. Those are all nice. Looks like lots of game in the future for me.

I take Soul Eater. I haven't found anything that increases MP more than 10 and those energy drinks actually cost me HP to use. I immediately cast a few spells and then consume a Petty Soul Gem. 50 mp. Presumably the stronger soul gems will give more. Even if they don't it was already worth it.

Ok, five choices left. Damn I wish I knew how to create those two skills.

Fuck it. Minimap. Serenity. Inhuman Reflexes. Vigorous. Toughness again. Yes to all. I am now the proud owner of three new skills. Let's see what they are. _Observe_.

 _[Minimap (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Provides detained data as if using a basic Observe on all targets within area. Options for filtering and sorting information available at higher levels. Covers area that falls under Harvest the Fallen.]_

Not bad. So basically an actual minimap from a game, but potentially much more customizable. Even as I read the experience rating changed to 1. So always on, but probably will level slowly. Hopefully enemies will help. Next.

 _[Serenity (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows actions to be taken without breaking use of Meditation. Use of a physical ability score, expenditure of mana or taking damage greater than the current level of this skill automatically breaks Meditation.]_

Damn. So combat is completely out for right now. Although it doesn't cap skills. So training is still available and maybe sniping enemies if I don't mind using a lower Dex. Not great, but still potentially useful. And again, damn. I probably could have made this. Just would have had to combine Concentration with Meditate.

 _[Inhuman Reflexes (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Chance to activate on surprise 1%. Upon activation automatically know what triggered it and gain 1 second of subjective time to think of response.]_

Ok. I have defensive bullet time. That is amazing. I definitely will have to level that up. Unfortunately the only way I can see to level it is to get attacked by surprise over and over again. Training this skill is going to suck.

And it's back to training for now. I really need some kind of training montage skill. Although how would I level it? Boredom sends my mind on some random tangents. Too bad Serenity doesn't actually grant peace of mind.

I activate all of my buffs before meditating. I carefully walk back and forth and watch the experience gauge of serenity fill steadily. When the minute mark hits I hold my breath and cheer when Meditation doesn't break. That broke it though, but I quickly start again.

It's pretty boring just pacing back and forth and I end up playing games again. I limit myself to turn-based games after I drop the laptop for the second time. Stupid 1 Dex.

It takes hours, but I finally manage to get it to level 10. I stop after that since it's high enough for what I have in mind. I sit down and while still meditating, I began playing with mana.

I'm careful not to use too much, but using what I can. I form it into various shapes and move it around, sending it floating around my head or jumping between my fingers. It's not easy and I have to maintain my focus or all the mana disperses in the air.

I don't get any new skills from this, but Mana Manipulation starts leveling pretty quickly. I'm spending about 1 MP per second, but with meditate up I'm only losing about 33 per minute. At this rate it'll take just over 2 hours to empty my reserves.

I decide to keep at it until I do run out. There is something innately fascinating to me about mana. I have always loved the concept of magic and to now that I had it there was no way I wasn't going to use it.

When I did run out of mana, I looked around for something else to do. Even with Gamer's Mind I was getting tired of training and I needed something to distract myself with.

I ended up playing with my Inventory, testing out it's limits. The term living creatures ended being an interesting limitation. Plants didn't count and could be stored. So could eggs although I'm not sure why.

The zombies couldn't, but that was because of the beetles. Sadly the beetles couldn't be stored until I killed them, they just passing through the screen otherwise. So no perfect assassination power. Although they do drop something new now.

 _[Gore Bag]_

 _[This is a collection of miscellaneous human body parts. Crafting item for Necrotech.]_

I firmly ignore those for now.

I end up giving in and go back to grinding using the games. I'm nowhere near the 50 mark, but in the end I feel that it'll be worth it. As a sign of my newfound wisdom though I also train my survivability.

The first was to give myself more damage resistances. I still remember frantically dodging the fire from the last cape and anyone can use a flamethrower or Molotov cocktail. It actually proved to be much better than I had realized. As soon as I started burning myself I got the following notifications.

 _[_ _Fire Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: A skill that makes the body adapt to extreme heat, reducing damage taken. Reduces fire damage by 1._ _]_

 _[Due to repeating actions a new skill had been learned.]_

 _[Damage Reduction (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: A skill to make the user more difficult to injure. All damage is reduced by 1% before resistances are applied.]_

 _[All damage resistance skills are now listed as subskills under Damage Reduction.]_

Huh. Well, that will make keeping track of my defensive skills easier. I should probably start grouping all of my skills that way. I set about doing that while I search out new ways to hurt myself. Since the first few levels are always fairly quick to raise I try to raise each of them to at least 10.

I ended up with resistances to acid, cold, electricity, and piercing damage. I tried poison, but ended up with a different skill instead.

 _[Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: User is resistant to harmful substances. 1% chance to ignore the effects of a poison. Weaker substances may be completely negated.]_

 _[New Perk Available.]_

The hell? Let's see.

 **Picture of Health (resist diseases as easily as poison)**

Odd. Sleeping gets rid of anything long term. Buuuut I don't like sleeping, so it looks like I'm going to be getting that later on. On that note, maybe I should actually try sleeping at least once?

I time it and it takes a full eight hours. When I read the notification I also realize if my mana gets high enough sleep might end up being fast to refill it than meditation. Although I'll probably get a skill or perk later to fix that.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Lacking inspiration I end up starting on the training that I know is going to suck. I go back to my base and look around. I'm really lucky there is so little shelter provided and no one wants to live in a very exposed position. I still make sure to pull up the fire escape. I can always kick it down inside the ID.

Using craft and some of the scrap metal laying around I fashion myself a very heavy weight vest. More than enough to put an Encumbrance penalty on myself and keep it there even if I gain a few points. Then I step into a zombie ID. I bounce a rock down the fire escape to attract a few zombies and stealth to make sure only a few notice my presence.

It sort of works. Even if they don't notice me, they see the other zombies homing in on something. I sigh and wait until a half dozen have made it up the ladder before using a Blood Bomb. It wipes out most of the gathered zombies, but more importantly it destroys the ladder.

Then I began my terrible training plan. I activate Aura, Blood Armor and Mana Shield. I put on a blindfold and ear plugs. I then proceed to fight. Sorta. Actually I mostly just let them pound away at me.

I get hit a lot.

I don't get hurt though. I had calculated it and between my defensives the zombies can't actually deal any damage except on a critical hit. Speaking of, ow. So yes, critical hits still hurt.

When my ability finally triggers I can feel it. It's a weird sensation to know an attack is coming from the side with your senses blocked. I punch and I can feel the zombie die as I reflexively destroy it's head. Oops.

I resist aiming for the head after that and settle for just pushing the attacks away. It feels like an eternity before I finally feel the ability start kicking in more and more often. It's still only a fraction of the time, but it's now a noticeable fraction.

Since I have Ambidexterity I decide to try and have fun. Whenever I parry an attack I use the other to gut punch the zombie. I deliberately aim low since I don't want to destroy the beetle, which seems to be located somewhere in the chest.

I make horrible fake martial arts noises. I pose. I try out silly moves that would be impractical and hard even if you weren't blind.

Even that gets boring after awhile and start getting frustrated with the training. It's working, but it's certainly not any fun. I figure it's the grinding combined with the blocking the senses that's getting to me. Trying to lift my spirits I start singing March of Cambreadth. It didn't quite work for me. It's hard to get your blood pumping when you aren't exactly fighting seriously.

I tried a few other song before I found one that seemed to work for me. I had always liked Re: Your Brains and the silly lyrics seemed to fit the ridiculous image I had in my head of what I was currently doing.

Eventually I couldn't stand it anymore. Singing, dancing, nothing distracted me enough to keep going. And yes, I tried dancing with the zombies. It wasn't that hard either. Instead of pushing it away I'd grapple it lightly and then use my superior strength to drag it around while I sorta stumbled through a dance. The waltz was by far the easiest, but the tango was a close second. Everything fancier was horribly difficult just because I kept falling over. It was ridiculous, even more so than singing, but it kept me entertained enough to keep training for awhile.

All things end though. When I finally felt my weight vest lighten to where it didn't impede me anymore I decided it was time. I thoroughly enjoyed destroying the zombies after ripping off my blindfold. A pair of Blood Bombs cleared the mob at the base of the tower, which had been covered in zombies attracted by my Aura.

As soon as I saw the zombies start to congregate I was leaping towards them. Dual casting, I was able to hit the pile of zombies with four Blood Bombs before they melded. Sadly it still spawned a lesser legion zombie. I guess there isn't a lower level version. I had this hilarious idea of damaging it enough so that it ended up being only two zombies merging and it being called something like pint-size legion zombie.

Oh well, I actually had a plan I wanted to try out so it all works out.

I started dual casting Bloody Needles, all of them aimed directly at it's head. When it swung at me I leaped to the next building and cast again. I repeated the pattern three times before it broke the pattern.

The zombie suddenly hunched over for a second and it's flesh began rippling. Instead of armor though it grew two additional pair of arms. It then started flailing towards me, attacking the buildings around me as well. It was too late though. I had been keeping a close eye on it's health. Even as it twisted to continue the barrage of attacks my final pair of Bloody Needles slammed into it's head and it died.

Since I leveled I grab Picture of Health.

 _[New skill learned.]_

[ _Blight Resistance (Passive) LVL 1 - 7%: User is resistant to harmful substances. 1% chance to ignore the effects of a disease or poison. Weaker substances may be completely negated.]_

I check and it seems Poison Resistance was replaced. Thankfully I didn't lose my little progress. Or maybe not. I also decided to get around to leveling the crap out of that skill. Losing the ability to get drunk seemed a small enough price to pay for immunity to many of Bonesaw's techniques.

Since nothing else seems really appealing I grab Toughness again. I really don't want to die.

I definitely need to level both Bloody Needle and Blood Bomb some more. They are both rapidly becoming my more useful offensive abilities. Which would be a problem if I run into someone who can mess with blood, but it should be fine for now. After all, it's not l've run into anything unexpected already right?

Fuck. I need another way of damaging enemies. And guns just don't seem to be able to keep up. At this point my fists deal more damage than bullets. Probably because I'm so much stronger than normal.

Awwww. I'm going to have to melee. I definitely want a weapon than. Maybe something to throw as well. Or maybe I can draw one.

My new power is fascinating. Basically I can draw, or tattoo but I'm sticking with temporary uses until I have a better handle on the power, pictures that I can imbue with energy that can then be brought to life. They have to be on a living creature and whoever it's on is the one controls when it's activated. I also can't modify it after I imbued it which is the main reason I'm not making any tattoos yet.

I can draw living creatures and limbs along with simple things such as armor or a sword. The level of detail and skill put into the drawing determines how powerful it is. For non-living items the detail and skill determine the complexity of what I can create. Everything requires a certain level of detail to be used, but it will be stronger if the drawing is more details and life-like. Luckily both painting, tattoos and drawing all fall under Craft, which I have fairly high.

Just as I suspected from my fight, anything that is killed or destroyed causes the tattoo to vanish. Drawings are of course one-shot uses. I'm also wondering how easy it would be to allow an animal to manifest a tattoo. Not really that important for now.

The only actual drawing I regularly use so far is a wakizashi. I have a few of drawings, but I'm mostly satisfied with the sword for now. I had picked that weapon because one of the random skill books I had read gave me the skill Iaido. And after reading it's description, it was exactly what I was looking for.

 _[Iaido (Active 149 Sta) LVL 1 - 0%: A technique to draw the sword and smoothly flowing through an attack and flick to cleanse the blood off and then resheathing. Attack deals an additional 53% damage and increases the chance of a critical hit.]_

The only drawback to the technique was that it requires too much energy. It was too bad it drew upon my stamina instead of my mana. It is getting cheaper but it will likely never be something I'll be able to spam. Although I wonder if there is a way to shorten my recovery time?

 _[Requirements not met. Requires End 50.]_

Definitely need to reach End 50 than.

I spent most of the day practicing. The problem lay with the cost. Even with my Aura up I still had less than a thousand Sta, which meant six attacks. Six! I spent a large amount of my time running around between the zombies trying to level up On a Dime. Sadly I couldn't sprint since it consumed Sta.

I didn't even always get all six attacks in. Iaido is pretty stressful and occasionally the sword would break when I was cutting a zombie in half. After the first time I started drawing multiple swords on myself. I was on the verge of just abandoning the technique altogether when I had an epiphany.

I carefully fed mana into the sword. I _willed_ the energy to strengthen it, to make it better, to make it _more_. The sword burst, exploding along with the energy spill out of of it. I didn't mind too much since I could just draw more. I try again and again.

Eventually I gain a new skill and it was perfect.

 _[Reinforcement (Active varies) LVL 1 - 0%: A skill to amplify the properties of an object by augmenting it through the infusion of mana. An object can have any number of discrete attributes increased. The total bonuses cannot exceed (102 + the caster's Int)% and cannot be divided into amounts smaller than 1%. If the objects HP is selected than it also gains the caster's Int in damage resistance. Reinforcement lasts for 1 day per 5 points of the caster's Wis.]_

I test out the skill using what I remembered from the Fate Stay Night series. I already found out overloading an object destroys it. While my version isn't quite the same, I test to see what other similar limitations it might have.

First, the mana cost is fairly high. And lastly, I use it on myself. As expected, as soon as I turn it off the benefits fade. I even catch a bird to try it on. As expected overloading it poisons it. It also costs more. In fact, it costs exactly an additional amount of MP equal to it's Int. Additionally the timer for the buff read lower and some calculation revealed that it's Wis score was subtracted from mine before the duration was set.

Since training is gong slowly due to the pitifully small number of strikes I can make before being forced to rest I train both Deadly Charge and Power Strike. I did attempt to get around the massive amount of Sta that was used by Iaido, but failed in the best kind of way. I attempted to substitute MP for Sta with Iaido. Instead I ended up getting another technique from Fate Stay Night. I love being lucky.

 _[Prana Burst (Active varies) LVL 1 - 0%: User continuously utilizes the expulsion of bursts of MP to impart additional force to certain movements. MP is consumed depending on the actions taken and the boost given. Maximum boost is 104%.]_

Prana Burst was an Active skill, but one of the few I've found that stacked with others. It was very impressive as well. It did drain obscene amounts of MP to use though. Even with my ridiculous MP pool I couldn't afford to use this all the time. Thankfully I probably wouldn't need to. Assuming it progressed linearly like all of my other skills so far, then combined with Iaido I should easily bring down any single target.

Training all of my new skills was tedious and slow, but slowly I made progress. A fact highlighted when I get a shiny new title. My first in fact.

 **[Exterminator]**

 **Obtained by killing 1000 Corpse Beetles.**

 **+100% Damage dealt to bugs**

 **+100% Defense against bugs**

 **+10 Abilities when fighting bugs**

I immediately equip it. It makes the dungeon runs much easier. I'm a bit shocked at how routine it had become.

Which brings me to this point. I'm facing for the first time a fully generated legion zombie. I'm a bit excited at what it'll be like. It does seem to be getting bigger at least. _Observe_.

 _[Legion Puppet, Lvl 34]_

 _[HP: 15400]_

I glance at the rest of the description, but it didn't reveal anything new. And then it stands.

Definitely bigger. Where as before it stood around 30 ft, this one is closer to 50. So twice as big, twice as tough, hopefully it has something more than that going for it.

Almost as if it heard me it generates bone armor. The armor is complex and almost stylized depicting skeletons warriors fighting. I'm actually impressed at the level of detail that had gone into forming it. Who knew the bugs had it in them to be so artistic?

I immediately use the tactic I had perfected against the lesser legion zombies. I power leap from building to building, dual casting Bloody Needles as I go. It works all too well. The armor does block some of the damage, but not enough. I'm horribly disappointed. The only real difference was how long it takes.

Oh, well. _Inventory_. Let's see if I've finally gotten Life Drain. Aaand I didn't. I do however, have several red bottles that I suspect are health potions. _Observe_.

 _[Lesser Health Potion.]_

 _[Instantly recovers 100 HP. Does not remove Crippling status effects. Tastes like strawberries.]_

That's not bad. Much better than in DnD at least. Sighing I exit the ID.

 _[ID Create: new options available]_

There we go. My ID skill had been sitting at level 9 with 99% experience for awhile. I immediately look at the skill.

 **ID Create (Active 100 mp) LVL 10 - 11%: Allows for the creature of dimensional pockets. Pockets are destroyed upon leaving.**

 **Current Dungeons available: Training, Empty, Zombies, Wolves**

So wolves. And since it seems to be going with a RWBY theme, most likely Beowolves. In the show they're seemed pretty weak. I'll wait for now. Experience can be gained at any time. When the story starts I likely won't have much time to train. The worst is that everything happens in such a small time frame. I really want my stats at a much higher level before then.

I can't wait until the story starts.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

 **Status**

 **Name: None**

 **Age: 8**

 **Title: Exterminator**

 **Semblance: Gamer**

 **Class: Mage**

 **Level: 19 - 45%**

 **HP: 966/966**

 **MP: 7245/7245**

 **Stamina: 1008/1008**

 **Equip Load: 3/154**

 **Conditions: None**

 **Money: $37,203**

 **Str: 37 (74)**

 **Dex: 33 (66)**

 **End: 37 (74)**

 **Vit: 34 (68)**

 **Int: 46 (49)**

 **Wis: 35 (37)**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Luk: 32**

 **Points: 95**


	4. Finishing the Tutorial

Chapter 3: Finishing the Tutorial

Rather than enter the next dungeon stage I switch back to my defensive training with blindfolds and weights. By this point I was actually getting frustrated. It was necessary for my plans. Well, maybe not completely, but I'm a paranoid bastard. Cautious normally too. I was just so horribly annoying.

While experience levels are good overall, I can get them much easier than ability and skill levels. When I get irritated enough I can't stand it anymore I switch to offense. I use a combination of Prana Burst, Iaido, Deadly Charge, and Power Strike to clear out all the 'zombies'.

As I burn down the full Legion Zombie for the second time I feel almost bored. This is what I had been worried about before? With how slow it moves it feels closer to an obstacle course than a boss fight. When it dies I don't feel any elation though there is some slight satisfaction of the proof I'm getting stronger.

Meh, I guess it's better then potentially dying though.

Then I start over. It's slow going, but a very sustainable pace. I'm not really getting any any experience in my ID skill, but that wasn't the point. I can also feel the difference in my other scores as each set of weights gets too light to impose a penalty on me.

I keep an track of my stats and when my encumbrance penalty finally vanishes I'm tempted to cheer. This is why I can force myself to spend hours grinding on a skill to eek out a slight percentage boost. The number's don't lie. Stack enough skills together in enough areas and I become that much more terrifying.

Of course I don't slack off. Nope, I put on a heavier vest. Then start over again.

As much as I hate it, I understand the need to raise my stats. I still can't bring myself to do the training nonstop though, no matter how patient with grinding I am. I switch it up with playing games or rather grinding other stats. I take the time to alternate casting my blood magic spells out the window while doing this.

Since I really dislike having my Vit being so low I also incorporate an additional part to my training. Using my power I go ahead and tattoo a number of dragon heads on my arms. I take my time to render each one in as much detail as possible. Each possesses different breath weapons and I have them take turns hurting me both to raise my resistances and to raise my Vit.

I keep adding additional dragon heads as I think of new ideas and I end up with ten altogether. I was a bit surprised by some of the damage types, but it wasn't like powers were logical. Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire and Radiation were along my left arm. My right arm contained three heads that sprayed crystal shards in various shapes for Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing damage.

The remaining two heads on my right arm were the interesting ones though. With the cold breath weapon I had realized that they didn't have to have any physical logic behind their damage. I experimented extensively, but almost everyone fell under one the types I already had.

The first new damage type was transmutation. I had imagined an attack that petrified it's target and was pretty much thinking of Bakuda at that point. Probably why I ended up tattooing a translucent crystalline dragon that turned it's targets into glass.

The last discovery was when I tried to create something that caused things to decay. I was thinking of something like rot or time and may have been thinking of Khonsu when I came up with it. I didn't get any of those. Instead I got something better. Negative Energy.

As soon as I realized what I had created I attempted to duplicate it with mana. Since decay worked for the dragon head, it should work for spell casting right?

Nope. It failed horribly. No matter how hard I tried it failed. Turns out I currently can't shift my mana into anything. Not just negative energy, but also things like fire weren't possible.

I did eventually get a notice telling me why. And it was horribly cryptic. What the hell are elemental affinities? And why in the world do they require a Cha score of 50?

It does leave me with a dilemma however. Do I raise my Cha to gain necromancy? Possibly other elemental affinities? I debate the issue with myself, but in the end decide to wait. It's not like I'm actually using any of the energy types right now. Hell, I haven't even started experimenting with Necrotech yet.

Although maybe I should get around to making some spells that do use the other elements later on.

I don't stop there. I draw a good dozen swords across my body since I'm using them so much. My final tattoos were on my back. It was of a pair of wings just because I enjoyed flying and a cluster of three vipers for a tail. I tried to make them like the hydra and regrow heads, but never did get that to work. At least designing the wings to function like a Nevermores worked. Armored, bladed and capable of spraying feather knives. They should be incredibly useful.

Sadly, all my nifty new tattooed are mostly used to injure myself. I can't help feeling slightly betrayed by my power every time I do so either. Even if it's my own choice each time. All ten of my damage resistances along with blight raise rapidly under my masochistic regimen.

April can't get here fast enough.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Not to say that I did nothing but training during the rest of my stay in Canberra. Besides my training I do one other major thing. Hunt capes.

As expected Canberra was quarantined and a dome is currently being constructed over the city. Whenever I refresh or switch IDs the dome has progressed, like stop motion photography.

While there is a whole vetting process to leave, it's very slow and the waiting lines enormous. It also hasn't started yet. I'm not sure how long it will take to start, but I'm betting at least a few more weeks.

The Simurgh's attack along with the accompanying paranoia has increased the collapse of what little order remained. The interior of the city was lawless and ruled by small gangs who constantly feud.

This has led the city to becoming a breeding ground for capes. The conditions for trigger events are easy to come by and only the frequent killing of capes by other capes prevent a population explosion of parahumans.

It was this situation that I ended up hunting in. I doubt there would be anything too power. If there were I fully expected the Protectorate to arrange for their supervised release. I was still paranoid though and didn't take any chances. If someone proved too dangerous, I was fully prepared to ID out. Maybe try again later. Of course there were always other capes to hunt.

I started after a week of training. Honestly I was impressed I had lasted that long. That night I started scanning the city with my minimap, searching out capes with powers I can find useful. The problem for me was that so few of the powers were that appealing to me.

I already knew that any power I found would have to be pretty damn impressive to replace the one I was currently using and as for future minions I heavily favored the capes whose powers I was already familiar with. Besides, if I gained the PRT DNA database I'd end up with access to a majority of the powers in the story.

So I was understandably picky. The other problem was that any power I found that was impressive enough to change my plans would also pose a significant threat to me. Thankfully my minimap combined with observe skills gave me a rough idea of what powers a cape possessed.

Hunting gives me plenty of time to think and plan. I realized that I had been neglecting a core component of pretty much all games. Equipment. The Gamer never really touched on magical equipment other than how expensive it was to buy and of course the potions that get dropped.

Crafting takes so much time though. I'm still on a timer. I wonder, is there a way to craft things much faster? Maybe like in Minecraft? I concentrate.

 _[Requirements not met. Requires Int 100.]_

Damn. So not any time soon, but eventually doable. Looks like I'll wait on crafting until then. Although I should probably test it out so I can start collecting supplies. On that note I did ask my power a bunch of questions about enchanted equipment and possibly imbuing them with powers of their own. The answer that it was possible after I had Aura 50, Craft 50, and Reinforcement 50. That, combined with the fact that according to Apprentice I will eventually have some method of allowing others to read skill books guided my decision.

Given how high my Observe skill had gotten, my minimap was able to be set to detect and filter for all kinds of obscure information, including the presence of tinker tech. However, my experience to the contrary, it seemed that tinkers were much rarer than I had thought. I detected and bypassed several other parahumans before I finally detected evidence of a tinker.

Below me, a number of people moving in a patrol were all armed with tinker tech weapons. Taking a closer look at the information I realize it's not the guns, but the ammunition that registered as tinker tech. That's an odd specialization.

Examining the results of my Observe I'm not impressed. The ammo basically just acts as a tiny grenade. Sure it's much better than than normal ammo, but nothing that fancy. Still, there is a lot of it. Oh well. I'm just happy to have finally found a tinker.

I follow them as they patrol around the city block they seem to have claimed. Honestly I don't think I needed to use my stealth since they never looked up. I was tempted to reenact a horror movie scene with them, but restrained myself. Barely. Well, mostly. I did drop a few pieces of gravel to spook them, but really, they were all clearly idiots.

I probably could have just searched all the buildings in the block, but...

Actually, screw it. I end up leaving them to start jumping from building to building and popping out of ID long enough to scan it. They aren't all idiots. I do use stealth to hide from a few sentries stationed on top of some of the buildings. Still, they were all stationed to watch the streets below and from the chairs it's easy enough to spot where they were. Most of the time.

I pop out behind a maintenance shed right in front a sentry taking a leak. _Iaido_. My sword decapitates him as he's drawing breath to shout. I stealth and creep around the corner. No other sentries. I'm safe.

I check my minimap. Finally. I can detect a slew of tinker tech items, not all of it ammo for once.

Aaand there. A cape. And yep, it's a tinker.

I almost laugh when I realize he's near the top of the building I'm on. Probably figured he's safer with more defenses between him and the rest of the city. The scans show he's not moving. He's probably asleep, which would make sense, it was well after midnight.

I fix the location firmly in my mind and ID. I race down to where I believe the tinker is located and find a bed. Not taking any chances I bring out all of my tattooed. The heads all face behind me just in case. I also take out my sword, there is no way I'm going to try to use a gun on a tinker who specialized in ammunition.

It's actually anticlimactic. I pop out and promptly decapitate him. He never woke up. It turns out almost everyone else in the room was also asleep. The exception is a group the off to the side working a complicated ammo press. The noise is enough to cover any sounds I've made. Although I do get a decent skill from it.

 _[Sneak Attack (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: When attacking someone who is unaware of your presence you deal an additional 103% damage.]_

For a moment, the sight was enough to cause me to freeze. I glance at my minimap and even Observe them both just in case. They aren't capes. The ammo they're making still register's as tinker tech.

Holy shit. I've found a mass production tinker. One that seems limited to ammo, but still. That's insane. There was one of those in the original story, Masamune, and he changed the world with his Dragon's Teeth.

Now that I think about it, the circumstances behind their triggering are kinda similar. Both are in post Endbringer areas completely devastated and lacking in resources. I need to test this theory. If I'm right, it's very likely any other tinker will be similar.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

After that my training slowed down. At least an hour every night I would take time to search a different part of the city, looking for tinkers. Despite my advantages, tinkers were still rare. On the other hand it wasn't like I just ignored other capes. Any cape I found I took at least one shot at. I just didn't actively hunt them if they survived or got away.

I harvested quite a few random powers. They ran the entire gamut of classifications if you included the tinkers I had previously found. The majority of the powers were one I just didn't actually care about. Still, I might find a use for it later and the rule of adventuring is that you loot everything. It just so happens that powers falls under rare loot for me.

The most potentially valuable power I found was a stranger who I caught trying to sneak out of Canberra. Her power rendered her undetectable to parahumans. At least directly. They can figure out she's there from other clues, but their senses won't reveal her. And of course it didn't affect me at all.

It wouldn't have worked anyway. I knew for a fact that they stationed normal humans to guard the quarantine zones. However, her power could prove invaluable if I end up needing to break into the Birdcage. Maybe. Not quite sure how Dragon monitor's the inhabitants. Probably best not to chance it.

Besides the general scope of her power, Observe gave me some other interesting information about her. Hilariously it seems that I was the cause of her trigger. My hunts had apparently turned me into some kind of boogeyman and people were running around terrified. The rumors had gotten exaggerated and it seems most of the populace believed me some kind of rabid monster.

Honestly, that was pretty messed up. Just because I hunted down capes whenever I came across them was no reason to vilify me. I had only killed...My thoughts trail off as I realize I haven't actually been keeping track. I check my Inventory and pause. Ok, maybe she was right. That's an awful lot of powers.

Really thinking about it I kind of did fit the whole horror motif. I appeared out of nowhere and attack without any warning. I made a point of killing the strongest people in a group. Also since I make a habit of killing anyone who sticks around to see my combat style, I kind of do hunt down survivors. And if the number of powers I have skill books for is any indication, I've killed quite a few capes this past week.

Huh, I've already turned into a mass murderer. Didn't really expect it to happen without me actually realizing it. It doesn't really bother me. I think it's supposed to, not sure if I care. If I ever end up in a peaceful dimension I suspect I'll need therapy, but I guess I'm fine considering this is Worm.

I get pretty excited when I finally run into another group with tinker tech weapons. The weapons are odd though. They're all primitive, axes, clubs and spears mostly. Not really sophisticated enough for actual technology. Fuck.

After a moment I realize what must have happened. It seems that my scan registers the presence of all parahuman influence on objects as tinker tech. Annoying, but not common enough to get upset over. Except in this instance. In this instance I was furious.

I thought I had found another tinker. I'm going to kill him for that. Well, I guess I was going to anyway. Huh, I'm even sounded like a mass murderer in my own head now. I'm going to need to watch that in the future.

Finding the trump was as easy as locating the tinker. Just follow the patrol route, search the enclosed area. Building hop until the minimap registers a hit. And hit. And another?

Huh. This is the first time I've run into more than one cape in the same place. Looking at the information I see the trump. Nearby is a changer and man he's got a lot of tinker tech items on him. There's the last one and it seems he's a tinker. Hell yes. I am not longer angry, in fact I'm pretty happy with this trip now.

I wonder. I carefully read through the information and confirm my guess. The capes are banding together because of me. It seems fear of me is enough to override the normal paranoia. Interesting. Meaningless long term too since I plan on leaving within a week. I know the story starts in April. Unfortunately I don't recall the day it starts and I want to arrive at least a little early.

Since it seems I'm already well known I don't really see too much of a point sneaking around anymore. I bring out all of my tattooed and ID into the middle of the group. Each of my dragon heads breath destruction. I'm like a prismatic explosion of death.

The tinker along with most of the mooks goes down pretty much instantly. Yes. Even if I have to run now I'll still be satisfied. Well, at least not as upset.

My mental rejoicing allows the other two capes to recover from their surprise. Well, the changer at least. I can see why he had so many items too. He has some kind of grafting power and several items are jutting from his body.

The trump seems frozen in horror at the sight of me. The changer did the smart thing. He looked at his partner and ran. It didn't do him any good. With only two targets between them the dragons vaporize the trump while a Bloody Needle took out the changer.

I'm practically dancing with glee at my haul. I got three new powers and one of them is a tinker! The tinker power fits my theory, but since it was from a mass trigger I'm not sure if it counted.

The tinker power is one specializing in creating a weird crystalline bronze alloy. Items made from it could be built with internal solid state machinery that basically gave it effects like vibrating edges or a taser charge. While it can't be mass produced, it doesn't seem to need much maintenance either.

I'm also really happy with how the dragon tattoos performed. Despite their short range those breath weapons were devastating.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

The next day I went hunting again. This time I went out at noon. I figured such a drastic change would let me catch people off guard. Besides, I've already reached 50 with most of my abilities and they're raising much slower now. I'd made the decision to start hunting more often since it was my last week here.

It was getting close to where the story started and i wanted to arrive early. I also wanted to pick off as many capes as I could in my time remaining. Besides at my current progress rate, I'd lose at most a point or so worth of training.

So it was understandable how excited I got when I spotted an actual convoy.

A convoy comprised of a large number of vehicles that looked like they've been cobbled together. Vehicles that from the sound of it were in perfect condition under the hood. Also vehicles that were armed with large clunky coil guns. Observe revealed that the fuel for the vehicles and the batteries powering the coil guns were both tinker tech.

They were out collecting supplies and were making periodic stops. I didn't need to follow them all day. At one of the stops I snuck up and started Observing everything. Eventually I found one of them who included the location of their base in his information.

From there it was a quick trip directly to their compound. I laughed when I realized they had taken shelter in the mall. No wonder I missed them, with so much of the city left unexplored I had never had time to go back. Reading the descriptions of the people there revealed they were nomadic and switched between several positions, which might be another reason I missed them.

I also had hit the jackpot. There were two tinkers present. It also seemed the vehicles were the work of a tinker, just not tinker tech. The second tinker had the ability to build anything he understood incredibly quickly and with virtually no materials. I'm not sure whether I actually count that as a tinker or just a crafting focused thinker.

As suspected the first tinker specializes in power sources. More specifically consumable power sources. He can actually build machines that generate them, which I think is close enough. When I have time I need to visit the other containment zones.

I don't think about it long. I don't even bother entering the mall. Instead I bring the roof down on them with a salvo of Blood Bombs. As soon as the skill books and DNA samples appear in my Inventory I leave.

For the rest of the week I go on a sweep every few hours. I kill several other capes, although a few manage to be hard enough to kill that I leave them alone. A week later I stop hunting.

This is less giving up for a lack of tinkers as I seem to have over hunted the area. I'm finding fewer and fewer capes of any kind now. There are also patrols of Dragoncraft appearing in the city. Frustrated, I decide to just grind in my dungeon.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

 _ID Create - Wolves_.

Yep, called it. Large packs of Beowolves were situated on either side of the bridge although thankfully only a few were actually on the bridge. I reflexively used Observe and laughed as I saw the results.

 _[Beowolf, Lvl 10]_

 _[HP: 300, MP: 250]_

 _[Str: 25, Dex: 25, End: 20, Vit: 20, Int: 2, Wis: 15, Cha: 10, Luk: 5]_

 _[One of the weaker species of Grimm, Beowolves make up their shortcomings with numbers and pack tactics.]_

No surprises so far. I Deadly Charge the nearest and am very happy when it just dies and nothing unexpected happens. I am hilariously overpowered for this dungeon I find. Several of my skills allow me to one shot them. Hell, with all of my defenses they can't even hurt me.

Screw it. If I'm going to be stuck fighting these things I'm going to make sure I get something out of it.

I drop out of the ID and set down to create spells. I make certain to not use Blood Magic when I do so. Slowly and carefully I focus on the elements and I can suddenly see a new direction my magic can flow. Like seeing a hidden door suddenly.

Using my new knowledge I take start creating a new set of spells. I'm forced to go back and finish Mana Dart, the pure mana version of Bloody Needle, before I can do so. Oh yeah, that's why I had been using blood magic. I forgot about the range.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Mana Dart (Active 60 MP) LVL 1 - 0%: A spin stabilized crystallized projectile of mana. Damage scales with Int. Range 21 feet.]_

Then I make a version for each element. I make a scaled up version of each I just call Mana Javelin along with elemental versions of it.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Mana Javelin (Active 248 MP) LVL 1 - 0%: A spin stabilized crystallized projectile of mana. Damage scales with Int. Range 21 meters.]_

Satisfied I reenter the Wolf ID. I test the Javelin and it deals about six times the damage as a dart. Since it's only a bit more than four times the cost it's a bit more efficient, especially with the increased range.

Once more I drop out and quickly create elemental versions of the Javelin spell as well. Now I'm ready.

Once back in the ID I spam both Dart and Javelin spells as I run around. I cycle constantly through the elements and spells, keeping their progress even. I also use Split Focus to cast volleys of Darts and Javelins. It eats through my MP much faster, but I'm mowing down the enemies.

Speak of which, I figured out a new trick with my menus. I found that I can actually attach a skill to my status. From there I can see a progress bar towards the next level easily. I currently had over a dozen different skills listed along the sides of my vision.

I couldn't really take any satisfaction defeating the Beowolves so I took it from watching my skills progress. My musing even allows my Inhuman Reflexes to trigger despite the fact that they can't hurt me. It's honestly kinda peaceful as long as you ignore the howls and screams.

Distracted by watching my progress bars it took me a moment to realize that the Beowolves were running away.

Wow. I already triggered the boss. I quickly turn on Mana Shield and Blood Armor just in case. When I see the new icon on my minimap I start activating my tattoos. The might be overkill, but it's better than dying.

I hear the sounds of hooves and jump on top of a building. When a fused horse and rider walk into view I pause in confusion. Did not expect that. How on earth is that an animal? Is that from the show? Really wishing I had watched more than two seasons now. I take my time inspecting it as it slowly walks onto the bridge.

 _[Nuckelavee, Lvl 41]_

 _[HP: 20,810, MP: 110]_

 _[A lone vicious Grimm. It travels randomly attacking everything in it's path. It can only use half of it's body at a time.]_

Interesting. I'm pretty sure my Observe and level is high enough to see it's stats. So maybe the dungeon doesn't reveal them? Probably nothing compared to mine right now. Still, maybe I should have switched out Blasto's power for a more offensive one? Too late now. Not like it matters.

I grin. As it was, this is should be pretty easy.

I charge. As I rapidly close I can see the top half animate suddenly and then I'm flying backwards. When I land I notice I'm actually cut. Not too badly, but it's still impressive. Inhuman Reflexes kick in and I lean back in time to see it's clawed hand swing past me.

I look over and see that it's arm had extended. With my crazy high Dex I dance back and forth between it's strikes as I watch it. Content that I've judged it's speed accurately I generate a bone sword. The next time it has both arms extended I take a step forward between them.

My sword flashes out and suddenly the Nuckelavee is handless.

Let's see what other attacks he has. I wait as it screams in rage and what looks like bladed spikes grow along it's spine. It seems to swell a moment before a multitude of limbs extended from it's back, each wielding one of the spikes like a knife.

Ok. That's different.

The arms all extend towards me, twisting and contorting oddly through the air as they weave around each other. I activate Thought Acceleration and watch in slow motion as they near me. I twist, step forward, draw my sword again. Time slows down as a half dozen knives along with the hands holding them clatter to the ground.

It shifts to the bottom half and the horse charges me. After it's arms, dodging it's hooves is child's play. I jump back and sprays with Dart and Bomb Bugs. That may have been overkill. Holes were torn through it even as other parts exploded. Less than a minute later the was dissolving.

When it dies I'm honestly a bit disappointed. I still eagerly check out my rewards though. A common soul gem, money and a new skill book. Hopefully this one will be more useful than the last. It might even be worth farming for future minions. As it was I had several copies of Necrotech, which was great if I wanted to create a cult, but pretty useless for me right now.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Shadow Warp (Active 100 MP / min) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows the user to partially merge body with shadows, allowing it to move unnaturally. As long as user is in shadow may select single limb. User gains 1 Dex and can distort body parts up to 50%.]_

Holy crap. That's pretty awesome. That's pretty much a power on it's own. Sort of. It's costs a whole lot of MP though. Well not for me, but anyone else. Useful for me though. Especially stacked with Iaido. It more than makes up for the disappointment I have for not getting another quest completion.

There are also several green potions. Observing them reveals them to be the Sta equivalent to the Health Potions. They're called appropriately enough Lesser Stamina Potions and grant 100 Sta. They also taste like watermelon. Sadly they're kind of useless to me now.

It takes a few dozen runs to level my skill high enough to access the next dungeon. Along the way I gain a new title, Dog Catcher, which was the canine counterpart to Exterminator. It was interesting to note that each title applied to much more than the single creature that earned me the title.

I also unlocked a new option, one of which I actually end up using on my dungeon runs. Skill Handicap allows me to alter the skills of everything in a dungeon. However I can't use it on anyone besides myself except in a training ID. Placed on myself it makes everything much harder. It's also insanely powerful.

Skill Handicap essentially lowers one or more skills. I can still raise them, but they count as being at whatever level I set them at. However, once I leave the dungeon they lose the penalty. It does have limits, I can't lower the skill more than my ID skill. Right now that is more than enough to train most of my new skills incredibly fast. Sadly, it doesn't allow skill books to be read if I lower it below 50.

Ok, let's try this. Skill Handicaps set to maximum aaaand go.

So there's the first Beowolf. Let's see how I do. He's charging so duck and power attack. I'll swing left and... holy crap!

I freeze for a second as the first beowolf takes another swing. I was so surprised it actually manages to hit me. As I start rolling to gain distance I realize the trouble I'm in. Not good. Not good. Not good.

Finally. I scramble to me feet enough to power leap above the beowolf. Holy crap there's a lot of them. More than enough to bury me. Reminds me of World War Z. Not a pretty picture.

Screw this.

Activating all of my tattoos I hose the pack down to give me some breathing room. Damn. The power difference is pretty big. Even knowing it was coming it still caught me by surprise.

I drop out to catch my breath. Oh. That is pretty nice. Several skill level ups. Already? Well, looks like I'm going back in.

After each run I check with glee my notifications. Without them, I would have probably gotten bored again pretty quickly. The constant little notices showing me getting stronger though? That was more than enough encouragement to keep going. I'm not sure if reality is mocking or rewarding me for my previous habit of excessively grinding when I played video games.

It took me less than a day to unlock the skill handicaps. Once I did, thorough abuse was enough to raise each of my new skills to a minimum of 30 within the remainder of the day. I actually continued running the dungeon until I unlocked the next stage, Lizards.

I should probably start spending at least my perk points before trying Lizards. Besides, for now I'm getting a decent amount of experience from just my first two stages.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I decide to go ahead with my perk points. I'd kick myself if I end up ignoring something that later proves to be vitally important. I also want to be a ready as possible in case I'm discovered and attacked when I leave. No way am I going to be stuck in here when the world ends.

Besides, at level 36 I have quite a few points saved up and with almost all of my ability scores now over 50 I should have lots of new options. I'm tempted to raise Cha for access to the elements, but I think I'll hold off for now. Although I do spend four points to raise Int to 50. Plenty of other things to buy right now. No need to go looking for more yet.

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 30)**

 **Analysis (Skill, increase chance to figure out how to land a telling blow)**

 **Ant Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on Str and Dex by 5%)**

 **Beginner's Luck (better to be lucky than good, luck improved novice skill level)**

 **Breathless (reduce Stamina drain from holding breath)**

 **Catching a Break (less likely to be unlucky soon after being unlucky, the worse the occurrence the less likely there is another occurrence)**

 **Critical Success (increased probability of obtaining a critical hit)**

 **Deflect Arrows (Skill, deflect ranged attacks)**

 **Desperate Dodge (spend Sta to negate HP loss from attack)**

 **Fleet (Increase top speed by 2 mph)**

 **Hearty Kill (chance to harvest prime cooking ingredients from kill)**

 **Inner Furnace (heal more from food items)**

 **Insomnia (reduce time required to sleep)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **Jinx (Skill, allows user to curse target with bad luck. Minor annoyances will occur throughout duration. Cannot cause death.]**

 **Long Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on End by 10%)**

 **Lucky Break (Skill, shift probability to favor you once)**

 **Lucky Streak (good luck increases chance of additional good luck)**

 **Mana Affinity (increase reserves while decreasing mana cost of skills)**

 **Mana Battery (Gain additional 1 MP per point of Int)**

 **Mana Generator (Mana regen increased by 1)**

 **Mobility (one skill is easier to use while moving)**

 **Momentous (Skill, turn without losing speed while moving quickly)**

 **Pack Mule (Equip Load increases by 10 lbs)**

 **Pack Rat (Inventory item weight limit increased by 5 lbs)**

 **Regenerator (HP regen rate increases by 1)**

 **Relentless (Skill, repetitive actions have reduced Sta cost)**

 **Scan (while meditating Minimap range is increased)**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

 **Soul Infusion (consume appropriate soul to gain temp boost to a single ability score)**

 **Split Focus (Skill, may perform simultaneous similar actions without penalty)**

 **Stable (one skill is easier to use while not moving)**

 **Surge (Skill, apply Str to move faster)**

 **Thought Acceleration (Skill, gain more time to think things through)**

 **Toughness (Gain additional 1 HP per point of Vit)**

 **Vigorous (Gain additional 1 Sta per point of End)**

 **Well Rested (gain additional 10% XP from kills after sleeping)**

Woah. That's a lot of Perks. Damn, some of them would have been pretty useful earlier. Oh well, at least I'm getting them now.

Looking it over I can see a number of skills that I feel fairly confident I can develop on my own now that I know what they are. However there isn't a real reason to save my points. So what would be the most useful?

Huh. I knew Toughness would most likely still be available, but Vigorous too? So Mana Battery probably was also. You know, I've been neglecting my class. With how much mana I have I should really have started working on more spells. And not blood magic since my health is nowhere near as large as my mana pool.

So what to get first? Let's see what I can create on my own first. I began sprinting back and forth across the roof of my current lair. I _push_ until I can feel my muscles straining to accelerate me just that little bit more. Each time I get the end I turn around and do it again. Sure enough, after three laps I get a notice.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Surge (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: When user is sprinting 1% of strength is added to dex for purpose of determining maximum speed.]_

So most likely all of strength added in when I max the skill. Pretty good for a passive. Really glad I developed it too. I'd probably be pretty pissed to buy it and not received a fairly massive boost. Thinking about that last thought I realize I'm getting a bit spoiled when it comes to my skills.

I shrug even though no one can possible see me in the ID and go back to running. This time I try zigzagging slightly, muscles straining this time to act as springs and preserve my momentum. I laugh as I realize the skill name is literal.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Momentous (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: User's maximum speed increased by 2%. Every degree from perfectly straight lowers this bonus by 2.]_

Another passive. And a percentage based one again as well. Suddenly Fleet is looking more tempting. If I get enough of these I'm going to end up as fast as Velocity.

Thankfully I also figure out how to gain Thought Acceleration on my own. It required me to Reinforce my brain, something which was insanely risky in the Fate Stay universe, but relatively easy for a gamer. Even if it had been risky I probably would have chanced it if I knew what the skill did.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Thought Acceleration (Active 10 MP/sec) LVL 1 - 0%: Gain +100% subjective time while active.]_

Reinforcement worked for one so I try it again. This time on my ability to pay attention to more than one thing. After a little practice it works perfectly.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Split Focus (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: May perform 1 additional instance of a task without penalty. In each instance a single variable may be altered in each case.]_

It takes me a second to realize how amazing the skill actually is. Wanting to test out my idea I try to cast two mana arrows and watch in wonder as I'm able to direct them at two separate targets without any problem. Once I grind this skill a bit I need to sit down and create a bunch of cheap spells.

I'm really tempted to start grinding both the skills right away. Focus. Still have to see what skills I can make. Hmmm. Actually most of them don't seem to be possible right now. That or I have absolutely no idea how to go about creating it.

The exception is Relentless. I have a vague idea and as I really think about it I get more. Attempting to use the elastic rebound of my own muscles to preserve the energy used in a task seems to actually work. I may have cheated by using Reinforcement to help out.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Relentless (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: When the user repeats the same action three times the Sta cost for any following identical actions is cumulatively lowered by 1 to a minimum of 1. This reduction is lost as soon as a differing action is taken.]_

Huh. I'm not sure how useful that will be since moving would break it. Although if I was using with moving? Sprint could become a lot more useful when combined with Relentless.

Well, that's all the skill perks for now. Let's see... what to buy?

First of all, Scan. I use my minimap all the time, this will only make it better. I wonder if I'll get another related perk when my Wis reaches 100? Let's look at the details.

 **Scan: While meditating Minimap range is increased by 100%. User may narrow focus in order to further increase range. Each halving of focus results in an additional 100% range to a maximum increase of 400% in a 45 degree arc.**

Damn. I whistle in admiration. That's insane. Once I raise Harvest the Fallen high enough I'll be able to sweep miles.

Well, enough being impressed with myself or at least my power.

Before I spend all of my points I really do need to increase my survivability. So let's hope this is worth it. _Desperate Dodge_.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Desperate Dodge (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: When user would take avoidable targeted damage Sta is reduced instead of HP. Current Sta use is equal to damage taken - 1. May choose to forgo benefits of skill if aware of source of damage before activation.]_

Wait a minute! That's a skill! Why didn't it show up as one?

 _[Skill requirements not met. Requires Inhuman Reflexes 100.]_

Huh. So it becomes an available skill at that point. Makes sense with the last part. How did I learn it then?

 _[Requirements met. Character Customization max. Dex 50. End 50.]_

So I can get around normal limitations by spending perk points. I guess it did hint at that before. Ok, so another skill to train up. And I really need more Sta now.

You know what? You can never have too much luck. _Lucky Streak. Catching a Break_. And since I'm going with luck based perks, _Hearty Kill_ and _Critical Success_.

The description of the first three are horribly vague without any numbers. Hopefully they'll make a difference.

 **Critical Success: +1% of landing a critical hit when attacking**

Damn, those are a lot less useful than I had hoped. It is repeating though. Screw it. I buy it four more times. Always liked critting on a natural 20.

What else. I did buy Hearty Kill, so...

 **Inner Furnace: Heal +50% from consumable items**

And just when I wanted a perk to be repeatable. Screw it, let's try something different. Let's start getting rid of weaknesses.

 **Breathless: Reduce Sta drain from not breathing by 10%**

Damn, oh well, sink the rest of my points in it. Yes! 100%. I try holding my breath and grin as my Sta bar just sits there. Totally worth 10 points to make sure I can't drown. Hell, maybe I'll visit space next.

Hmm, still a few points left. Not sure how I'll train it, but it can't hurt to get. _Deflect Arrows_.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Deflect Arrows (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows user to block ranged attacks if physically capable. Reduces damage from ranged attacks by 0.5%]_

With nine points left I decide to try Soul Infusion. Wait, why do I need to select an ability score? Hmmm, I'll go with Int. You can never be too smart. _Observe_.

 **Soul Infusion: User may consume a soul gem of the same tier or higher in order to gain a 10% boost to Int that lasts for 1 minute.**

Thats...kind of underwhelming. It's not even a skill so it doesn't get any stronger. Wait...why is it still available? I select it again.

Ahh, and select another ability score. And Int is still available. So with enough points I can get a pretty massive boost. Interesting. But with it's short duration it seems a better fit for a physical boost. So this time Str. 10%. So it's consistent. And Str again. And yep, it's at 20% now.

I think for a moment. A bit of math reveals it actually changes my base scores. So Aura ends up amplifying my boost. This is actually a lot more powerful than I had originally thought.

Screw it. I dump the last six points in Soul Infusion. I dump them between Str and Dex. 40% for each is pretty good, but I look forward to seeing how terrifying it will get with more points.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

As much as I want to try the next stage of my dungeon, I was running out of time if I wanted to interfere in the story. I definitely wanted to get the ABB capes powers before most of them were birdcaged and it was approaching April. I guess it's time to leave Canberra.


	5. Hunting and Gathering

Chapter 4 Hunting and Gathering

Leaving Canberra proved to be pretty easy for me. I entered an ID, flew through the incomplete dome and left the area. Witnessing the sheer amount of effort being devoted into walling off the city really drove home how scared people were of the Simurgh.

And of course knowing how low my luck had started at there was pretty much zero chance that I had escaped notice. Dragon had probably already recorded me and let everyone else know. Really wish I could have filled in my CYOA sheet myself or at least been allowed to read the blasted thing.

When I reached the edge of my ID I found an isolated hiding spot and exited and then entered a new ID. I continued this for quite awhile I was determined not to be caught. I only stopped when I succeeded. I knew this because of the notice.

 _[Quest Complete.]_

 _[Escape Canberra.]_

 _[Exit Canberra without being detected.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

From there it was fairly easy to make my way to the nearest airport. I snuck onto a plane heading towards New York. It was one of the first planes leaving the city, but more importantly it was the location of Flechette. I'm sure if her DNA will be found in the database, but no sense taking chances.

I even have the perfect method of getting her DNA. My Craft is more than high enough to paint mosquitoes and there are swarms of them about now that it's spring. A few of them in the right place should be more than enough. I test it on the plane and they can at least traverse the length of the plane, which is plenty as long as I'm careful.

There were also the gangs. I knew New York had several gangs and most of their capes wouldn't be found in the database. Although given how little I knew about them I'm not too sure much I cared about them. Well, besides the Elite. They had a lot of tinkers working for them, even more than Toybox.

Although their number of tinkers probably has more to do with how they recruit rather than incentives. Possibly because the Protectorate appreciates the stability they bring, no matter the price. Sounds like Cauldron's mindset to me.

Hmm. I feel like there is something about that train of thought that's just out of reach. Like an idea I can almost understand. Screw it. I open up my Status page and carefully place four points in Int, raising it to 50. Unfortunately it didn't bring with it any sudden epiphanies. Disappointed I shrug, it'll probably come to me later.

However, getting to Flechette proved a lot more trouble than I had realized. I had developed several bad habits in Canberra and it was only now, faced with gathering her DNA without killing anyone or getting caught, that I realized it. Every one of my usual strategies were useless.

I do come up with one viable strategy. I just have to wait until a public appearance. The Wards often visit school and such. That would be an ideal time to use my painted on mosquitoes. Unfortunately, they only run those every month or so and I don't really have time to wait around.

Disappointed, I barely remember to raid the bookstores in New York. Several of the largest book stores in the world are located here. I'd never forgive myself for missing the chance to raid them. Several quick IDs, well not so quick considering the size of the stores, and I've successfully raised several of my skills all the way to 50. Sadly it seems Comprehension doesn't work past that number. Still, I consider it well worth it. Since I still have a few days I take the time to raid the various college libraries for their specialties.

I didn't find enough books to raise every skill to 50, but a quick look through several categories shows me that a few well placed orders could cap most of them relatively easily. I'm a bit annoyed at being forced to actually pay for something. Although I should probably consider this practice to get back in that habit. At least in public.

Flush with success I decide to target Lost Garden. They were mentioned in the story, but never really impacted it. From what I've found online they aren't really considered a real problem so their disappearance shouldn't matter too much.

Lost Garden was supposed to have a lot of capes and the leader was trapped by his power. Which sounded like a target rich environment to me. From what I remember and looked up, they are as much cult as gang. So I need to threaten their leader and make sure to kill him last.

As part of my preparation I go shopping. I have plenty of money from my dungeons and I need a costume if I'm going to start operating as a cape. Since I have a high craft I mostly stick with materials. The costume I come up with isn't the best, but it's functional. A plain white hockey mask, black boots and a black leather great coat make up my outfit. The coat had a hood and the sleeves were in actual strips and buttoned together since my dragon heads would tear through them otherwise. I make new pants as well, with very wide legs.

The other part of my preparation consisted of new tattoos. I leave the dragon heads, but get rid of the wings and tail. With the new room I tattoo snakes. Not just any snakes. They were covered in segmented armor similar to an armadillo which had a slight chameleon effect. They were also incredibly fast and strong for their size.

I end up with over forty between my legs and back. Then I go back over everything and draw, not tattoo, another layer of snakes completely over my body. It was something I had suspected would work when I thought back to the cape I got this power from. I was happy to find out that it did work and I ended up with another sixty snakes.

I figured a hundred snakes with low brute and mover ratings would make a significant difference against all the capes in Lost Garden. Their striker ability should also help. Instead of the traditional venom or fangs I designed them with a retractable serrated bone blade housed in their mouth. Poison takes much too long, I much prefer them to just stab my enemies to death.

I'm tempted to wait at the edge of Barrow's territory and just send in waves of drawn creatures. Only the fact that they don't last for more than an hour prevents it. If I could just draw them fast enough and well enough I might still attempt it. Something to think about another time.

Instead I scout out the area and locate the largest group of capes. I then ID and pop out in the middle of them with all of my dragon heads out. I can barely move since I'm currently covered in animated snakes.

The dragons all breath, clearing me room and I drop the snakes on the ground. They prompt dart away, attacking everything in the area. I make myself a highly visible target by power leaping around and using my dragons to breath on everything in range.

My training more than proves itself as Lost Garden fights back. Powers, weapons and just chunks of landscape are all used to assault me. Thanks to my skills I casually weave my way through the majority of attacks. The few that inhuman reflexes doesn't warn of don't do any real damage.

In the meantime my snakes are busy. They cut tendons on the legs to bring their targets down and then lunge towards a more vital spot. Even as they attack me I can see capes at the back falling. By the time they realize what is going on it was too late.

Barrow, enraged at my attack, had turned the full force of his power against me. Everywhere plants grew incredibly fast, all of them unnaturally inclining towards me. They filled the area making it hard to see and harder to move. After only a short time they caught and bound me. Despite my strength, I let them.

"You made a mistake coming here." Huh. Barrow's voice is a lot nicer than his wild appearance would suggest. He kind of reminds me of Mr. Rogers. No wonder he managed to gather so many young capes together. I don't know if the cliches help or not. Maybe. They are just kids.

I keep smiling at him as I watch my minimap. Now that the area is filled with plants my snakes are slaughtering everyone. They don't need to hamstring anyone when they can use a sapling to get into range. They also don't need sight since they can hunt by heat. Barrow doesn't seem to realize what's happening either.

"This is my world." Oh god, a freakin monologue. It's even worse since he still sounds like Mr. Rogers. I tune him out until I see the last few capes vanish from my minimap. I don't bother interrupting him. Instead I flick a Bloody Needle at him. I aim for him mouth, which is still talking. It tears through the tree trapping my hand and caught him by surprise. Bullseye. I think. Kind of hard to tell since he's missing a head. I'm going to count it.

Consolation prize well in hand I ID out before his forest finishes fading out of existence. I don't bother gathering any of the snakes. Even the tattoos will fall apart after an hour away from me. I do bother stopping by Hero's grave and using a mole drawing to extract a trace of DNA, but then I leave the city.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I don't head straight for Brockton Bay. Instead I take a look through my accumulated loot, particularly my skill books. I hadn't actually really looked through all of the powers I had been collecting in Canberra and now that I've more then doubled their number I should really do something about it.

The vast majority, as expected, weren't of any real interest save possibly as some kind of item enchantment. Even then most of them were just too weak. Then, I find two that gave me an idea. While not really something I'd care about normally, either of them would fix my problem of what to do about Blasto. I need his power for my plans to work, but had held off collecting him this early since it could easily derail several events I really wanted to happen. Mainly Accord giving him the DNA database and Bonesaw's attack.

Well, Noelle's power could possibly replace that, but I wasn't going anywhere near her until I had a way to kill her.

It was a third skill book that finally convinced me to act. A stranger/striker power that caused paralysis and allowed one to erase recent memories. I'm pretty certain I got that one from Lost Garden. A lot of his capes had seemed like grab bags. Hopefully it will allow me to minimize any butterflies. Looks like I'm heading to Boston.

 _[New quest created.]_

 _[By Their Fruits]_

 _[Gain Blasto's power.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

I had never been to Canberra or New York. I felt a lot like a tourist while I was there. Boston was different. I had actually been to Boston in my previous life. Arriving and seeing so many changes amidst familiar landmarks made me feel off. It's funny, I don't think I fully realized how I had lost my old life until that moment.

In preparation for changing my power I redo all of my tattoos. By this point the dragon heads have long since lost the ability to actually hurt me so they aren't as necessary. I completely remove everything before designing a new set for myself. They need to last since I'm very unlikely to ever go back to this power. So most likely no minion. Unless. The tattoos create minions instead of being minions.

Carefully I hold the idea of what I'm imagining in my mind as I create a new tattoo. Instead of swords I draw a skeletal palm and iris on my hand. Once it's finished I can feel it. It's done and it should work exactly as I had imagined. I can feel how difficult it was to create as well. Superhuman dexterity and skill have allowed me to push this power past it's normal limitations.

I still test it, concentrating and watching with glee as a sword made out of compressed bone grows from my palm. Perfect. It still looks like a cel-shaded animation, just a very highly detailed one. Testing revealed I can create a large variety of bladed weapons, but no more than that. I can't even create a club which was pretty odd. The items I created also only lasted a few minutes once I let them go, degrading much faster than a normal tattoo.

Despite the limitations I was ecstatic. My tattoos can mimic powers. Even more important was that my tattoos can create things I hadn't drawn. More testing revealed that the more fantastical the abilities of the creation, the more specific it was.

The types of bone swords I could make became much more limited when I gave them abilities that resembled parahuman powers. I experimented on a variety of abilities including generating fire, draining blood and other abilities. I found the more I understood the physicals behind how something worked the more powerful I could make or even add differing abilities. I eventually settled on a vibrating edge a single molecule wide along with the ability for the blade to extend up to twenty feet.

I placed a small hive tattoo on my other hand. While I was ambidextrous now, Iaido wasn't really a dual wielding skill. I probably could, but it'd drain far too much stamina to be used as anything but a dramatic finishing move. Besides, a single sword style left the other hand to wave about uselessly. I liked the idea of spreading invisible death while doing so.

The hive created a creature instead of an item. Based on my mosquito, I crossed it with a horsefly. My newly christened blood flies used an injection of salivas and venoms from other creatures to create a painless wound that wouldn't stop bleeding. It wasn't as lethal as it sounded since the insects dissolved after a few minutes and the effect dissipated at that time.

Since again it was based on normal biology I was able to design them with a stranger power that made them invisible and inaudible. The inaudible part didn't matter so much, but the invisible was a pain. It actually didn't work the first few times and only became possible once they were already transparent. I think it was because of the amount of detail I used to optimize the creature, but there was absolutely no variation in the creatures produced. They were all perfectly identical to each other.

I kept that limitation in mind when making my next tattoo. It was aimed towards replacing my dragon heads. I liked them, but they were way too vulnerable as well as obvious. I have to use the public library for this project, primarily researching insects. I play around with designs in my head as I research just about everything I can on biological acceleration.

The result was an insect. Sort of. It looked a lot more like an organic dart with tiny legs than an insect. The head was a spike made of three serrated blades. The fins were actually modified wings and could flex allowing it to curve in the air to follow their targets.

I had to base as much as possible on natural biology so it was propelled by a combination of jumping legs along with an organic chemical rocket. The power I used allowed them to dramatically increase their density and mass as soon as they left the hive-like launchers on my arms. The result were bugs that were faster and heavier than bullets. Getting hit with one would be closer to an armor piercing shell fired from a tank.

I ended up altering the tattoo when I got to my right arm. I wanted something to clear areas with like the dragon heads had done originally. Since Dart Bugs already had a rocket I altered their blood to more closely resemble the fuel. It took even longer than the Blood Flies, but I then used their power to specifically target their blood. I had to adjust both the shell and the blood composition dozens of times but the results were worth it. Instead of a cannonball, each Bomb Bug acted like a grenade.

I carefully drew the tattoos for the finalized hive launchers on my arms, already planning on the alterations to my costume. A double ring of launchers, each consisting of five tubes, would require wider sleeves with some reinforcement, like a wizard's robes.

I created three other tattoos. My back was simple enough. I still wanted to fly so a cocoon from which a giant dragonfly unfolded was designed. Due to it's size and purpose it was a basic Alexandria package. Strong enough to carry me, tough enough for it's carapace to stop bullets and of course, flight. The power was basically an extension and exaggeration of it's physiology, which meant ended up being able to carry a small car and fly up to 150 mph.

Each leg possessed a hive as well but geared towards more exotic effects. Giant black wasps were generated from the hives. The first hive was geared towards cold and they used liquid nitrogen for blood and in place of venom. The other hive actually used metallic wasps that were like small generators and could continuously generate large amounts of electricity.

My chest was were I had fun. I created a membrane cocoon surface from which emerged a partially grown xenomorph. Strong, fast, tough and with potent acid it was perfect. Instead of a chestburster, a miniature xenomorph warrior was created.

Tattoos complete I finally moved on Blasto.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

The Gamer really is a broken ability. It was simplicity itself to track him down since the minimap showed established gang territories. I just had to trace the edges and then head towards the center. He wasn't perfectly in the center, but was close enough that searching only took an hour instead of days.

Blasto had set up shop in an old abandoned hospital. I'm not sure if he was intentionally going for the horror theme, but it sure looked like it. The way the building was rundown and covered in odd plants it had a post apocalyptic look. How on Earth does no one know where he works from?

As I walk through the halls I do enjoy the various plants growing in the building. Glowing fungi make the place creepier, although he was missing the cliche of flickering overhead lights. Many of them were also traps of some kind, mostly of the poisonous variety. Maybe this is why no one's attacked here?

As I wander around Blight Resistance levels several time. Damn, that's actually kind of scary. Not for me, but everyone else. No wonder no one attacks him. I need to try meditating here sometime. I might be able to max Blight Resistance.

When I entered his lab, Blasto was still standing where I had marked on my map. In front of him was a vat filled with some kind of sludge. He was so engrossed in his work that he never noticed me. Honestly it was very anticlimactic. There were no traps, final boss or last ditch wave of minions. He had a few lab assistants and they just ignored me.

It's time to gamble on his power. I pull out the skill book I've set aside and absorb it. I try the first one, a cloning master ability and direct it at Blasto. It allowed me to create clones of any cape within ten feet of me, but all the clones weakened every time I created another. Around a dozen or so they were basically just normal people.

I had no intention of creating more than one. I watch as the clone forms and immediately kill it. I check my inventory and sigh when no skill book appears. Of course that'd be too easy. At least Blasto still hasn't noticed me.

I take out the second book and absorb it. Then I stealth up and knock out Blasto with a well placed punch. I tie him up and use my new striker ability that allows me to temporarily copy another power. Instantly I'm flooded with ideas and understand how everything in the room works.

I carefully take a sample of Blasto's blood and began creating a clone of him. Since I'm not trying to improve it in any way it's a fast and simple process. I've blindfolded and gagged Blasto in the meantime, can't have him interrupting.

I can tell when he wakes up from his breathing. I don't care. As soon as I'm done I plan on leaving.

Over the next hour I watch as the clone finishes growing. As soon as it's done I pull it out of the vat and wait for it to wake up. Once it does a quick scan shows I've succeeded. It has powers!

I quickly kill it and almost cheer when the skill book appears. I immediately read it as my mind is once again flooded with ideas. I steal one of his fungal seeds. From what I can tell, it's actually the hardest part of getting started. I also accept the quest reward.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[By Their Fruits]_

 _[Gain Blasto's power.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

And now to clean up. I quickly absorb the skill book that allows me to erase memories and knock Blasto out again. I carefully erase the last two hours from his memory. After untying him I leave.

As soon as I'm in my ID I break out cheering. This was a game changer. I want nothing more than to start cloning everyone I possibly can, especially Panacea, to start up my own organization.

Instead I move on to the Teeth. I really hate being limited to a single power. But if I'm right the Butcher will let me get around that. All I need to do is kill her. I'm fairly certain I can at this point too. Blind Spot will keep her precog ability from sensing the danger until it's too late. I just need to be able to deal enough damage to actually kill her.

I sigh. Freaking Child flaw. I'm going to need to raise Cha or the Teeth will never let me actually challenge the Butcher. Heh, I have this horrible image of becoming the Butcher and people still refusing to take me seriously. That would really suck.

I sigh again and pull up my stats. As much as I dislike it, I feel like wasting time socializing even less. I dump 49 points into Charisma.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Well Rounded]_

 _[Raise all of your ability scores to 25.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Now Perfect]_

 _[Raise all of your stats to 50.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

Huh. I had forgotten about those quests. Only have one other too. Looking it them over I raise Endurance to 100. It isn't my highest stat, but I seem to run out of Sta more often than anything else. No use holding back now. I dump another 50 points into Int. The remaining 37 points aren't enough to raise Wis to 100 so I save them for now.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Exemplary]_

 _[Raise one of your ability scores to 100.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

Well, I'm about to fight one of the scariest capes in the world. No use holding back. Might as well spend my new perk points. _Perks_.

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 6)**

 **Adept (lower MP cost of 1 skill)**

 **Analysis (Skill, increase chance to figure out how to land a telling blow)**

 **Animal Empathy (communicate better with animals)**

 **Ant Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on Str and Dex by 5%)**

 **Beginner's Luck (better to be lucky than good, luck improved novice skill level)**

 **Bloodlust (every kill within Harvest range grants Sta)**

 **Catching a Break (less likely to be unlucky soon after being unlucky, the worse the occurrence the less likely there is another occurrence)**

 **Critical Success (increased probability of obtaining a critical hit)**

 **Easy as Breathing (reduce Sta cost of 1 skill)**

 **Elemental Nature (gain affinity to a single primary element, may select sub-element if already possess both parent elements)**

 **First Impression (bonus to starting reputations)**

 **Fleet (Increase top speed by 2 mph)**

 **Insomnia (reduce time required to sleep)**

 **Inspirational (Skill, provide morale bonus to followers)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **Jinx (Skill, allows user to curse target with bad luck. Minor annoyances will occur throughout duration. Cannot cause death.]**

 **Long Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on End by 10%)**

 **Lucky Break (Skill, shift probability to favor you once)**

 **Mana Affinity (increase reserves while decreasing mana cost of skills)**

 **Mana Battery (Gain additional 1 MP per point of Int)**

 **Manacraft (instantly craft using MP)**

 **Mana Generator (Mana regen increased by 1)**

 **Memory Partition (true multitasking)**

 **Mobility (one skill is easier to use while moving)**

 **Pack Mule (Equip Load increases by 10 lbs)**

 **Pack Rat (Inventory item weight limit increased by 5 lbs)**

 **Quick Recovery (reduce rest period before refilling Stamina)**

 **Regenerator (HP regen rate increases by 1)**

 **Silver Tongue (gain reputation easier and lose it slower)**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

 **Soul Infusion (consume appropriate soul to gain temp boost to a single ability score)**

 **Stable (one skill is easier to use while not moving)**

 **Toughness (Gain additional 1 HP per point of Vit)**

 **Trader (vendors grant better buying and selling prices)**

 **Vigorous (Gain additional 1 Sta per point of End)**

 **Well Rested (gain additional 10% XP from kills after sleeping)**

Woah. That's a lot of Perks. Damn, a lot of them are really nice. Oh well.

Why the hell was Elemental Affinity found under Charisma? And a 50 to unlock? That's insane. Damn it, I really hate playing without knowing all the rules. I select it and see five elements listed. Why is lightning an element? You know what? Screw it. I buy all five. Let's see what I got.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Elemental Affinity - Earth (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: The ability to convert mana into a specified element and control it. Decreases the cost of related mana techniques by 0.5%. Increase Reserves by 0.1%]_

It repeated that way for all five elements. Huh, still available. I select Elemental Affinity again and now see a list of sub-elements.

Ha! And Negative Energy is on the list!

It required Earth and Wind? Odd.

I glance over the others. Radiation, plasma, acid, metal. None of them really appeal right now. I buy Negative Energy for now. Necromancy here I come!

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Sub-elemental Affinity - Negative Energy (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: The ability to convert mana into a specified element and control it. Decreases the cost of related mana techniques by 0.5%. Increase Reserves by 0.05%]_

Wow. So my sub-elemental affinities can also boost my MP reserves. I'm going to end up with virtually unlimited mana at this rate.

Damn. And I'm out of points now.

Screw that. I dive back into the Wolf Dungeon until I level twice. While the End 100 perks aren't vital, two of the Int 100 perks look amazing. As soon as I can I buy them both. _Mana Craft. Memory Partition._

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Manacraft (Active 50+ MP) LVL 1 - 0%: Allows the fabrication of completed goods from raw materials instantaneously. Mana consumed is based on difficulty of crafting and size of object. Craft skill only functions at 50%.]_

 **Memory Partition: may mentally perform two completely separate tasks**

I notice Memory Partition is still available so another few runs and another point later and sure enough, I can now think of three completely separate things at the same time. I still only have one pair of eyes, but I can see how this could come in handy.

And of course I can't forget the chunks of wolf meat. Hearty Kill was actually letting me eat Grimm. Despite my hurry I indulge my curiosity. I quickly cook several pieces. The grilled steaks were definitely the best.

I have also now found my new favorite meat. Lean, a bit gamy and delicious. If I have to actually run a business I'm now leaning in the direction of a restaurant. And this was a beowolf. I didn't get a piece from the Nuckelavee. Wouldn't have eaten it anyway. It is half human...ish.

Besides when I do get a piece it will probably be much more useful as a sample. With Blasto's power it could serve as the basis for a pretty powerful unit. Something for later on though. It's just about time to conclude my business in Boston. As if to agree with me my power chimed in.

 _[New quest created.]_

 _[Keep What You Kill]_

 _[Kill the Butcher.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

It must have been my lucky day since I found the Teeth quite easily. Well, more likely my luck stat kicking in. They had just arrived and were still setting up their base. They all appeared on my minimap. A whole cluster of parahumans surrounding the one I had come for.

As I walked into the camp no one really paid me much attention. Occasionally, very occasionally, being thought a child is useful. One does and he grins as he reaches for me.

I flick a dart bug through him and walk past. I don't even look around as several others start surrounding me. "I'm here to challenge the Butcher."

And yes, that sounded ridiculous with my high pitch voice. It's also almost impossible to be intimidating when everyone stands at least a foot taller than you. My display does cause most of the members to draw back. In this world capes, no matter their age, are almost always considered dangerous. At least to normal people.

Of course there are always expectations. While young parahumans have a reputation for being stronger than normal not everyone knows or believes it. And it wasn't like the Teeth were in a position to actually care about parahuman statistics.

A woman stepped forward. After the first word of protest left her mouth I flicked another dart bug at her and stepped over her remains. I didn't even care that she had a mask at this point. Besides Spree I didn't really have any plans for their powers. Still, a new power did mean more options which were always nice.

I reviewed the skill book I got from her as I continued forward. A breaker power to generate various chemical irritants and spray them with her hands. Kind of like an offensive oriented Gregor the Snail. Not really useful for me.

The whole time this was going on I had been talking with the Butcher. Formally challenging her, acknowledging my entry into the Teeth if I lost, agreeing to the arena they were setting up. I was also directing the tattoos along my legs and right hand to begin producing bugs and having them cluster on my body in preparation. Memory Partition really is incredibly useful.

When the fight started I could tell she wasn't taking me seriously. However, that suited me just fine. I activated the power I selected for just this fight. A weak master ability that creates dozens of illusionary crows. They couldn't do much, only capable of exerting less than a pound of force each, but they were indestructible, which was far more important.

The murder of crows ineffectively swarmed the Butcher. She didn't seem worried and they weren't dealing any damage. I started growing a bone sword even as I did my best to not get knocked flying from her weapon. I had dodged that! Freaking auto aim ability.

She hadn't bothered retreating. It seems she was trying not to kill me by accident. A mistake she wouldn't live to regret. As soon as the sword was finished I directed the flock at her head, blinding her. Using the distraction I slid behind her and with an Iaido cut her in half. I ignore the quest complete notice for now.

I have the birds slowly disperse as soon as I received the quest completion notice. I stand there, savoring my victory in every sense of the word. I can feel all my new powers settling in and I'm eager to test them. I smile as the Teeth realized that I had won, the last Butcher laying in two pieces behind me. The chant steadily rose around me. "Butcher! Butcher! Butcher!"

I raise my hand and they go silent. I can see the nervousness as they wonder what I'll say. The remaining Teeth capes are all at the front of the crowd. Good, I want to make sure I get them all. I take a step close towards everyone. Everyone leans forward to listen. That's when I strike.

My sword slashes out, the blade extending fully as I cut down over half the capes. At the same time my other hand gestures and a flight of bomb bugs launches towards those out of reach. Swarms of taser and frost wasps billow out along the floor, attacking everyone at once.

I'm impressed. Both Spree and Vex survived my initial assault, standing their ground and using their powers to block my attacks. The normal members had started running. I gestured and swarms of tattoo bugs along with volleys of fire darts chase after them. I don't bother seeing whether I got them all. In the end they don't really matter.

I leaped over the wave of clones Spree was putting out even as Vex was surrounding them both with a hedge of force fields. You could see how experienced they were by how smoothly they coordinated. Too bad it didn't mean anything, not against me.

A charge dragged me through the air, shattering the force fields as I plowed through them and into Vex. He ruptured under the force of my punch. My other hand had flicked sideways as I landed and the blade passed without resistance through the wall of bodies to find Spree.

And like that, they were all dead. An entire gang with a legacy of decades, gone. I laugh as I look around even as I studied in surprise the new stack of skill books that had appeared in my Inventory. I had not expected that many. I had killed ten capes. I had not expected twenty-three skill books!

While I was very glad to have that many, I regretted the fact that I had no samples to create copies of most of those powers. Looking through their descriptions it seems my version also won't create a new Butcher since it doesn't allow a transfer of power.

I really needed that DNA database.

 _[New quest created.]_

 _[Sample Size]_

 _[Obtain a PRT Parahuman DNA database.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

And it looks like my power agrees with me. Or at least recognizes it as an obtainable goal.

Now that I possessed the Butcher's powers it was time to see if the rest of my plan would work. Pulling up my skill page, I pause. Every other time my power had been listed on my skill page. The Butcher's powers weren't present. But, that didn't make any sense! I can feel them! Hell, I can use them!

To prove to myself I'm not delusional I try teleporting a few feet to the side. It works of course, but then I'm back to the puzzle that's this game. I swear, it's like it was made by White Wolf.

After going through all of my pages I'm left even more puzzled. Thank god for eidetic memory. The powers had mostly all been integrated in other stats and skills. Super strength had resulted in my strength score now being my highest ability by a significant margin. I actually wanted to look at the new perks, but didn't want to get distracted. I'm also fairly certain there was a regeneration power in there since my HP regen is much higher than before.

It took some doing, but I found out where the rest of the powers had ended up as well. Physical Resistance had a new subcategory called Durability which stacked with my various resistances. Craft and Reinforcement had been given a specialization and Inhuman Reflexes had been actually altered. Several of my other skills had been maxed, including oddly enough manacraft.

I did gain a number of new skills and unlike with power skill books these weren't maxed automatically. Given how powerful they seemed I was hoping they might actually end up stronger than what the previous Butcher's had possessed.

After figuring out where the powers had ended up for the most part there was only one final thing to check. I was pretty sure already, but better to be certain. I carefully pull out a copy of the tattoo cape skill book and select yes.

I couldn't help but cheer when it replaced my bug power and left the Butcher's powers alone. I'm now officially Eidolon light! I don't waste any time in checking out what new perks I've unlocked. I can't afford any right now, but that won't take long to fix.

 **Flash Step (Skill, short range teleport)**

 **Rooted (Skill, chance to negate effect of being moved)**

 **Above Your Weight (Skill, increase own effective mass)**

Flash Step definitely is the most attractive choice. Well, looks like it's time to experiment. Unfortunately after several minutes of effort I gain a notice telling my I don't meet the requirements.

 _[Requirements not met. Requires Str 100, Dex 50, On a Dime Lvl 100, Surge Lvl 100.]_

Huh. So I only needed to max two skills I was already training? Not sure it was worth using a perk point on then. Looking at Rooted, it seems like a dungeon is my best bet there. I'm getting a bit bored of beowolves. I guess it's time to try out the new stage.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

The next stage of the ID was Lizards. I should have suspected it meant more dinosaur than gecko. Well, unless it was the geckos from Fallout New Vegas. The moment I opened the dungeon I ended up having to dodge. The new creatures were very aggressive and very fast.

I lash out and...huh. Really didn't expect to vaporize it. Oops.

Well at least it seems to have made the others pause briefly. Looking like miniature T-Rexes I'm a bit sad they aren't dragons. Didn't really think they would be, but kinda hoped. Oh well, maybe later. _Observe_.

 _[Creep, Lvl 20]_

 _[HP: 400, MP: 250]_

 _[Str: 20, Dex: 40, End: 30, Vit: 20, Int: 2, Wis: 12, Cha: 12, Luk: 4]_

 _[One of the more common species of Grimm. Creep specialize in fast movement and pure aggression.]_

It seemed like a theme, but Observing them showed that they were again roughly 10 levels stronger than Beowolves. What kind of name is Creep though?

Unfortunately even with all my handicaps on it was pretty easy. Due to my new crazy high strength score the level 20 monsters were about as tough as cardboard. They died in droves. There wasn't any pause either. After that first shock they turned into lemmings, just mindlessly charging forward.

All too soon it was over. The ground shook and the remaining Creeps all ran away. I ignored them. Looks like it's time to face another boss.

The boss turned out to be a truly massive Deathstalker. Giant radscorpions didn't hold a candle to it. Actually bigger than the one in the show. It stood higher than me and was at least thirty feet long. _Observe_.

 _[Deathstalker, Lvl 50]_

 _[HP: 25,200, MP: 300]_

 _[A lone vicious Grimm. It tends to hibernate until disturbed. It's heavy armor makes attacks much less effective. It's stinger can bypass most armor.]_

As expected by now, I can't see it's stats. I had even tried going back to the zombie dungeon and despite being higher level I still couldn't see the Legion Zombie's stats. Looking at it's health I wonder if every boss will be five thousand more hp than the last? If so boss fights at higher levels are going to eventually become grueling and even worse, boring.

Like the Creeps, it charged immediately. As charges go, it had one of the better ones. It's legs punched deep into the ground and the area vibrated from their rapid impact. It didn't roar, but it's complete silence was pretty intimidating.

I immediately decided in future fights I'm going to try to be completely silent. Maybe build a spell to dampen sounds I make. Which would aid stealth too. Really want that spell now.

I dodge like mad back and forth. The one attack I let hit, definitely not the stinger, actually hurt. The claw also tried to grapple me. Thankfully I'm stronger than it. Remembering my perks I start blocking, bracing myself, digging my feet in and just trying not to be sent flying each time.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Rooted (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: User's relative mass no longer factors in whether knock back is applied. Str is considered 1 higher for purposes of resisting movement.]_

Testing out my new skill was incredibly entertaining. Since I was stronger than the Deathstalker I could use my free hand to block attacks while just standing in front of it. I bet it looked incredibly dramatic and I feel a bit more like an anime character. I can't wait to try this against the legion zombie.

I try out several spells. They only take a fraction of it's health off. That armor is pretty impressive. At least against spells. Thanks to the alterations to reinforcement, it easily allowed my bone sword to bypass the armor. Hell, one the Butcher's also let my do the same. Combined with my new strength, I easily was dealing at least twice as much damage as before.

I got Mana Drain from it. I absorbed it, but didn't really see myself ever really using it.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Mana Drain (Active) LVL 1 - 0%: On contact user may drain 1 MP / second from target.]_

I'm not sure if it was irony or not, but I got a different potion type. And if you guessed Lesser Mana Potion, you would be correct. It was by far the most useless as well. 100 MP? for me? Vendor trash. Now if only there was a vendor.

I'm getting more and more curious about Hearty Kill though. Creep Steak just sounds odd. Deathstalker steak sounded even weirder the few times it dropped. In the end, the next dungeon option unlock was what caused me to pause my grinding.

Party Mode.

The ability to bring others into a dungeon with me. Excited I made sure to read the description and rules carefully. They were extensive and much more limited than I had hoped. They were also much better than I had feared given Special Snowflake.

 _[Party Mode: User may bring an additional person into an ID. While in there guests will fall under the user's semblance and may be granted limited access to it. An additional guest may be brought in for every 10 points in Charisma.]_

So I can now level people up along with feeding them skill books. Maybe even give them classes. I pause and laugh as I realize how utterly broken my future minions are going to become. I didn't currently have any minions, but probably should start working on correcting that. I don't need them now, but there should be a time when I do need them.

I don't feel quite ready to start my own gang or I'd have kept the Teeth around. Besides I'm most likely on the unhealthy side of paranoid and wouldn't really feel safe without contingencies. Sure, the reputation system should allow me to track how loyal my minions are, but I still largely dislike socializing. It's such a wasteful activity most of the time. So much time lost just to not feel alone.

No, before creating minions I know what I need. Panacea obviously, the benefits of her power are too numerous to ignore. Bonesaw had some way of making the Slaughterhouse 9000 loyal, but that may have only been extrapolated from Cranial's tech. So both of them just in case. Fortunately Bonesaw's DNA will be in the database so I shouldn't have to go up against the S9 just yet. And probably Cranial just in case. Don't want them going off the reservation now.

Well any more than I already have. So my reservation. Yeah, I lost it.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I make one last thorough sweep of Boston. There really isn't any reason to leave Blasto now that I think about it. Besides, preventing or at least delaying the end of the world has priority. I can always just break in and steal the DNA database from wherever it is later on.

Blasto of course is still where I remember him. Sadly he doesn't seem to have changed anything since my last visit. Killing him only took an instant. Boring.

My luck was finally proving itself. While leaving Boston I ran into a cape fight. I recognized Othello among the names, which meant that the Ambassadors were involved. I didn't recognize any of the others though. Stopping to watch it was pretty clear the Ambassadors were winning.

Over a dozen little translucent men were being directed by a woman in an evening gown. Othello stood next to her and his imaginary friend was providing support. It was pretty neat that his imaginary friend actually had an icon on my minimap. Best feature ever. A third Ambassador in a suit was surrounded by floating forcefields.

After watching for a while I could see the forcefields would occasionally shatter after a strong hit. It wasn't much of drawback though. When they shattered, it was more like a directed claymore mine going off than a window breaking. Each explosion tore dozens of gouges deep into Blasto's creatures.

They were in a three way battle over a dozen of Blasto's creatures. The creatures were the typical plant chimera's Blasto is known for and I didn't really care about them. They were a superb distraction though for the other sides.

The third group was another trio of parahumans. PHO was about as accurate as you would expect from forum speculation, but it was easy enough to identify them. They all wore the heavy chain belt that proclaimed their allegiance to the Chain Gang.

The Chain Gang was interesting itself. A group that had never been mentioned in the original story, it was a popular addition in fanfiction. Not only did they exist here, they were one of the largest gangs. They controlled almost half the city. I had considered them before, but the only one I had really cared about was a suspected tinker, which wasn't worth tracking down.

Now it seems I didn't need to. A quick scan revealed they did have a tinker and he was standing in the front of their little group. Damn high luck is broken.

I was really tempted to rush in but wanted a better idea of the other powers. I was not going to die from hubris. Well I probably won't die, but no use taking stupid chances.

The other two seemed easy enough to figure out. One was using a pistol which spewed out waves of bullets. The other was even easier. Phantom limbs had sprouted from his back and were all wielding crude weapons.

Never mind then. Looks like there isn't anything to worry about. This should be easy.

The first thing I did was generate two of my new bone swords. After the Butcher fight I had gone back and redone that tattoo. With the power to sharpen objects I change out the swords abilities. In the end I went with giving it a high frequency vibrating blade. Even better a very slight tweak allowed the vibrations to generate a slight current. Not enough to electrocute someone, but hopefully enough to cause a muscle spasm when it hits.

Even as my swarms of lightning and frost wasps descended on the armored tinker I lunged towards the Ambassadors. A flick with each wrist and the extend blades easy decapitated two of them before they knew I was there. The last one wasted no time, moving more of his shields between him and myself.

I reinforced my both blades and triggered power strike. My first blade shattered the shield and just stopped. The explosion didn't really bother me, but the fact I stopped did. Damn it.

Even as I landed I twisted to sweep both blades towards the other group of capes. Distracted by the wasps they didn't even notice. And suddenly I was alone with the shield cape.

I go all out. I redirect my remaining wasps towards him even as i lash out, chipping away as his layered defense. Volleys of mana darts along with dart and bomb bugs rain down. Nothing works. He's completely surrounded by shields by this point and he can restore them pretty much instantly.

Screw it, I can already hear sirens in the distance. This is taking way too long.

I teleport behind him, letting the explosion throw him into his shields, which vanish. I guess he needs concentration. I decapitate him before he can get back up.

A quick look to confirm the presence of six new skill books and samples and I retreated back into an ID. I guess it's time to leave Boston.


	6. Munchkin

Chapter 5 Munchkin

Once out of the city I didn't head directly to Brockton Bay. No, there was something I needed to pick up first. I had no idea if I would be able to leave since I never saw the details of my CYOA. It could be after defeating Zion, after 10 years or maybe not even an option.

There was no way I was going to find myself trapped in this dimension. Unfortunately there were only five ways I knew of to leave this dimension. Two of them were unavailable. Doormaker and Professor Haywire were safely ensconced within Cauldron and the Birdcage respectively.

The last three methods all involved more elaborate preparation. Of them Flechette was lost somewhere in New York and Scrub hadn't even triggered yet. Thanks to butterflies he may also never trigger, at least with the power I want.

Which left Damsel of Distress. Her blasts, from what I remembered, would work well enough. Although her power is more limited, she is capable of damaging anything. If I an forced to face Alexandria I want that capability.

It only takes a minute to look up where she's located. And wow, she is not subtle. A webpage that she hosts under her civilian identity? She really isn't very bright. At least I'm assuming she is given the very low traffic on the site.

Stafford, NH is a tiny town with only a few thousand people. I'm honestly surprised there are three capes in a town with less than four thousand people. I avoid the other two capes. I have nothing against them and their powers are weak enough I don't care about them. Besides, I'd rather not gain a reputation as a cop-killer. Well, hero killer.

Damsel was easily located inside a house and yes it was her civilian identity. She really is an idiot.

During my search my luck struck again. Night Hag, a serial killer cape I knew wandered throughout the area, just happened to arrive in town. As soon as she pinged on my scan I'm moving. A few quick IDs and I appeared above her.

A slash and she's down. Without her power active she was just a normal human. I've developed a fondness for decapitating enemies. Looks like that's one potential S9 member down.

Satisfied I go back to Damsel's home. Now that I have Blasto's power I just use stealth and steal some hair. No need to kill her yet. Besides, it's not like she really does anything important in the story before being killed. Maybe she'll feel grateful after she finds out about Night Hag?

I wanted to try and hunt down some other powers, but I was feeling pressured. I rapidly make my way to Brockon Bay. Once their I look up the Herbert's and quietly check out Taylor's room. Since she still has her notebook I've still got some time.

At least a week before the trouble starts. Knowing this I'm in a much better mood. Some of her ideas were hilarious too. Since I was there I popped out of the ID briefly to take a sample of her hair. As high as my stealth was I might as well have a Stranger rating.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Now that I was actually in Brockton I sat down to do some serious planning. Given everything that was about the kick off I wanted to make sure I had plenty of quests to maximize my rewards. The gamer seemed to respond to my desire.

 _[New Quest Created.]_

 _[Collect Them All]_

 _[Collect samples from every member of a villian parahuman group in Brockton Bay. This quest is repeatable.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point]_

I stared at the quest for a moment before listing to myself all the groups that qualify. E88, ABB, Merchants, Travellers, Undersiders, Coil and Faultline. So seven perk points, eight actually since Uber & Leet should also count.

That's a lot of points. I wonder if it's because of how many groups I'll be wiping out, the difficulty of the task or just because of how badly I'll be screwing up canon? I'm really tempted to just start slaughtering the gangs immediately.

Sadly I still need them around for now. Noelle is just too dangerous for me to deal with. She can't create a clone with all of my abilities, but my physical stats alone would make me terrifying. Plus I'm not actually certain I can kill her without destroying a large part of the city. I really don't want that kind of attention.

I do start mapping out the town. Minimap is incredibly broken. Less than 24 hours later and I've fully mapped out well, everything and everyone. It was finding Bakuda in what is probably her lab along with Noelle inside Coil's base that changed my mind. With them in place I didn't really have any other concerns.

Alright, ABB first. My god. This is hilarious. I crouch down and literally duck walk past the guards in an empty hallway. I wonder if my stealth it high enough to let me laugh out loud and still hide me?

Once I get to the lab it's obvious how new it is. Equipment and parts are thrown around everywhere in messy piles. She also only has a few bombs completed, all of them sitting on a shelf by themselves. I look at them, but it's not worth the hassle.

A flick and swish and she doesn't even see it coming.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Ow.

Ok, I really should have expected this. Of course the first thing Bakuda makes is her deadman's switch. Hmm, I'm really uncomfortable too.

Looking around I see why. I'm handing in the the air by my hand, which seems to be stuck inside a time bubble. Well, this officially sucks. Damn, and I'm at half health too. Those bombs were terrifying. Actually _are_ terrifying, since I'm still stuck.

Sadly, I can't ID out. I wonder does that mean I can't ID out if I'm restrained. Nah, probably something to do with carrying capacity.

 _[WIS has increased by 1.]_

Whoa.

I didn't think I could get those anymore. Well at least I know I'm right. I can hear sirens in the distance. Really? Shouldn't I have more time?

This is going to suck. I grow a new sword, because of course my last one was destroyed. Oh, no it wasn't. It's just stuck in the bubble. Damn.

A click distracts me and I notice Oni Lee's icon on my minimap. _Fuck_.

Why the hell didn't my danger sense go off?

Looking at my heath bar gives me an annoying theory. Since the grenades aren't actually dealing damage to me, they don't trigger danger sense. Which means I can't use it to tell me where Oni Lee is.

Damn I hate this.

I lash out, but of course he's a perfect counter to me. Thank's to Quarrel's power I automatically hit, and he just dissolves into ash. Teleporting clone bastard. I can't wait until I can use that power against others. The grenades don't really hurt, but they're annoying and destroy my sword.

Screw this. I speed up my thoughts and literally fill the air with mana darts in an instant. I hold them in place despite the huge drain. Without any safe spots, he can't teleport in anymore. My mana is pretty much untouched so it's worth it. I start growing another sword as I switch powers.

As soon as Oni Lee appears again I trigger my power. I originally considered it a pretty useless power, but it was perfect right now. I fill the entire area with roaring flames and smoke clouds. Oni Lee doesn't really take any damage since it's mostly illusory. Which is good, because after those bombs I'm not sure how stable to building is anymore.

What damage he does take is just concussive. He'll have some large bruises tomorrow if he survives. Of course, he doesn't survive. Blinded by the fake flames he actually runs into several of my mana darts. The following wave fills the air again. Even if he teleports there was no safe spot. The wave shreds him. I'd give myself a standing ovation, but I'm still stuck.

After growing a third sword I brace myself and sigh as my sword breaks. Son of a ...

I pull up my inventory and start scrolling through my skill books. Almost everything will potentially leave me even more stuck. Or requires me to be able to actually cut off my arm. And of course I had to leave Damsel alive. Damn it.

Oh. I'm an idiot.

I load Oni Lee's power and cackle when I successfully teleport. I turn and wait. And wait. And wait.

Why isn't my clone turning into ash?

The time bubble must be screwing it up.

I really won't want to be here when the PRT arrives, but I can't just leave him here. Me here. My clone.

Screw this, I'll deal with it later. I lash out all around me with everything and ID out as the building comes crashing down. Clearing the rubble should buy me enough time.

I'm tempted to go after Lung, but I have higher priorities right now. Besides his pride makes it unlikely he'll run. Faultline doesn't have that problem.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

The Palanquin was open when I arrive. Of course I couldn't just walk in. No I was forced to ID and sneak in. I had tried several breaker and changer powers, but as long as the form was human I was stuck as a kid. I had expected it, but it was still annoying. Stupid child flaw.

I had carefully marked the position of every cape before hand. The plan was simple. Sneak in, use Blood Flies to collect samples. Leave.

It failed almost immediately. Sneaking in wasn't a problem. The problem was Labyrinth. Her gave her a zone in which reality was warped. In truth it was more about dimensional bubbles, but the important thing was that it required her to be in the same place. The institution she was in before had her moved frequently to prevent this.

Faultline hadn't done that.

You ever see one of those handing baby rockers? Well, it looks like a giant tinkertech one of those was rigged up to Labyrinth's bed. She was sleeping peacefully on a giant fluffy cushion that slowly swayed back and forth.

How did I know this?

Maybe because she was actually there inside my ID!

I'm guessing the motion didn't completely prevent her zone from forming, since the club was still there. It did restrict it somehow since her zone seemed confined to her room. Even as I watched the area distorted and changed. Observe confirmed that it was in response to her dreams.

She looked pretty peaceful sleeping here. Barely older that I appeared to be and a testament to the power of young capes. A Shaker 12. In theory her zone could cover an entire city. I can't wait to try out her power.

A quick set of IDs and liberal use of Blood Flies and I had samples of the rest of Faultline's Crew in short order. It helped that they all lived there. Shamrock wasn't there, but that was probably for the best. I wasn't willing to pit my luck against her's until I had at least a 100. Maybe not even then. Escaping from Cauldron still sounds impossible without crazy shenanigans.

Samples gained and quest completed I was about to leave when Labyrinth spoke up. "Hello. Are you real?"

Ok. That surprised me. Hadn't expected her to wake up. What set her off? I answer as I reply. "I'm as real as you are."

Screw it. I set on the bed next to her and wait.

"Hi. I'm Elle." She holds out her hand. She's adorable. "I've never met someone from one of my worlds before."

Aaand might think I'm completely imaginary. Eh, what the heck. I shake her hand. And since she already thinks I'm make believe... "Call me Mirage."

Elle was pretty fun to talk too. She acted younger than she looked. Experience teaching and babysitting made it easy enough to get along with her. She was very easily distracted and a touch spacey, kind of like how I always imagined Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series behaved. I'm not sure if it was because I was inside her world, but other than that she didn't seem to have any problems focusing on me.

I spent much longer entertaining Elle than I had initially planned. It wasn't until Newter walked into her zone that I realized how badly I had been distracted. "Hey Elle, it's time to wake up."

His voice trailed off as he stared. I stared back. I had read his description, but I guess it hadn't really registered. Human, bright orange skin and a tail. Like a Saiyan with a bucket of paint dumped on him. Bright, bright orange paint. Like Naruto would be jealous.

"Whose your friend? Do you want to introduce him?" Damn. Labyrinth's power actually does allow people inside my ID. That is one insane ability.

Wait. He said wake up earlier. How much time had passed?

Damn it. After a quick good-bye and a promise to visit again I race off. I have bombs to make and lots of people to kill.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I switch to Bakuda's power and work feverishly for the next few hours. I'm fairly certain I was caught on camera a few times when I went out for supplies since they were powered up when I dismantled them. Once I was done I stepped back to admire my creation. It was inspired by her glass transmutation bomb. Since I didn't want to collapse Coil's base, I had concentrated the blast into a smaller area and changed the substance from glass to diamond. Might as well get some use from her body.

I don't waste anymore time. I race to Coil's location as quickly as possible. When I drop down he's on the phone and doesn't seem to notice me at all. It's really eerie seeing how how power autopilot's his body around. I wonder how far I can go before he does.

Sadly it isn't much. Just moving his mouse out of the way was enough. Although the panic as he discovered his 'timeline's' dropping was pretty hilarious. I don't mess with him too long though. A quick switch to minor striker power and I quickly knock him out.

I sneak past the mercenaries for now. No use alerting Oliver before I show up. After getting a discrete sample I knock him out and ID into Noelle's vault. Now was the moment of truth. Could Noelle create harvestable parahumans?

A quick toss and Oliver was reflexively swallowed. Sadly, when I killed the clones I didn't receive anything from them. Horribly disappointing. I still collect a sample with my sword before detonating the bomb I had strapped to Oliver.

With Noelle taken care of, along with Oliver, I butcher all the mercenaries in my new base. No point leaving anyone who knows where it's located. On that note I head out to take care of the rest of the Travelers.

I'm not fancy this time. I sneak past Genesis's projection and decapitate her and Sundancer. Another ID and I just as easily cut down Trickster and Ballistic. And just like that, the Travelers were gone.

 _[Quest Completed.]_

 _[Collect Them All]_

 _[Collect samples from every member of a villian parahuman group in Brockton Bay. This quest is repeatable.]_

 _[Rewards: 1 Perk Point (Travelers)]_

I'm now on a deadline. Even if no one discovers the Travelers, the near destruction of the ABB will send waves through the city. Combined with my plans for Coil and I can easily lose a few quest rewards if I don't hurry. I also need to take care of my clone copy thing.

Uber and Leet were where I had last spotted them and fairly nearby. I actually didn't kill them, instead just using Blood Flies to get a sample and then sneaking out. The Undersiders were also fairly easy to find. This early in the morning they were all sleeping. My luck held and they were all still at their base so it only took a moment to use my Blood Flies again.

I ignored the quest completed notices and moved on. Already I had a few ideas on how both groups might be useful later on. My morning was very productive. Thank god villians seem too sleep in. Between my use of IDs, my speed and stealth I had no trouble crossing the city multiple times unnoticed.

For Trainwreck I don't bother with a sample. I sneak up on him and Deadly Charge. I rip off his leg and watch as he starts falling down. A slight twist and Iaido. Dead. Cut in half. My sword isn't even damaged. Perfect. I had been worried about power armor. He was a good test.

Besides, as a Case 53 his biology was pretty unique. His powers were also considered largely unknown so anything done by a clone in the future would just be chalked up to his background. Another potential plan. Until I had time to go to Madison he was also the only relatively unknown Case 53 I had access too.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

That afternoon I finally got around to interrogating Coil. I woke Coil up after strapping him into his favorite chair. I had of course disabled all the hidden gadgets and switches there along with his computer.

It had actually taken me hours to prepare for this moment. I had to switch to Blasto's power, break into Medhall and grow several clones to harvest and I ended up taking a bit longer than anticipated. Then I had to rebuild my costume. I had to keep reminding myself of all the assets I was going to get from him to keep myself motivated.

I actually didn't do much with him. A few quick questions and some torture and he was willing to burn several of his moles to get me the information I felt was the most important. The location of the PRT database. I was actually pretty pissed to find that he had already sold one to Accord. I could have sped up my plans by weeks if I had actually bothered to wipe out the Ambassadors.

Now that I had the information it was time to clean up. I quickly put Coil in a coma and then resumed my hunt. I can take my time questioning him later on. My first stop was Winslow. From reading the story I really didn't like Shadow Stalker. Her power isn't that useful to me, but her death would be cathartic.

When I locate her, she's with a few others. I laugh at what I find. It's the bathroom juice prank. I'm exactly at the beginning of the story. I ID into the bathroom and sure enough, they're pouring juice over the sides of a stall.

I'm really here for Sophia, but a few less assholes makes the world a better place. Besides, with how mnay people I've killed, what's a few more? At least they're definitely bad people. Maybe not enough to get sentenced to death in court, but lives are much cheaper than most people will admit.

I angle the blade slightly and extend it as I swing. It only cuts off only the top of Sophia's head, but allows me to decapitate the other two.

Oops, nicked the top off the stall too. The crash as it hits the floor is deafening. Clumsy of me. Hmmm. This could look bad for Taylor and I'm trying to help. I don't want her accused of murder so I wait until her stall door opens and Taylor sees me. There. That should help. They doubtless know what I look like by now anyway.

Maybe.

Actually, do they even know who I am yet?

Although I should probably go after the E88 before they get a report that I'm in town. They might do something annoying. Like leave.

I wonder what the PRT is calling me?

As I was about to ID out I see an icon I wasn't expecting. Chariot. Well, he's not a villian, but samples are always a good thing.

I ID out as Taylor begins screaming. I hadn't really thought about that. Bodies are probably traumatic. Damn. Two mistakes, my luck is looking down. I guess a high Int really doesn't translate into commono sense. Might be time to raise Wis.

Maybe. I don't have any points right now. Not sure if I want to get sidetracked to level grind. I briefly pause to collect the sample from Chariot. As soon as I did I got the notice for Coil. Interesting, hadn't realized he had been recruited already. I guess Circus doesn't count either. Easier for me I guess.

After leaving the school I head towards the Merchants. Since it's still early afternoon they might even be still asleep. And I'm lucky again. They were, well mostly.

Skidmark's asleep and I quickly kill him. Squealer is up and working, so busy she doesn't notice me even when I drop out of stealth. Whirlygig wasn't using her power and I was way too fast for her to have time to ramp up. So beheadings all around.

I did wait for Mush. I wanted to see how much protection his ruin golem form gave him. He was a lot more disgusting than I had thought. It looks like he had been hit by an Avasculate spell. I don't remember that from the story. I kind of wish I had gotten Apprentice DND Magic now.

I was pretty glad when the trash covered him. If my sword wasn't temporary I'd probably apologize to it. That looks disgusting. Turns out his armor doesn't even slow the blade. And another quest completion.

Actually getting bored of hunting capes. They're just so limited. That or absolutely terrifying. Well, potentially. Didn't really seem to be an inbetween. Hmmm. Screw it. There's only one gang left in town. One more day of hunting won't take too long.

I have quite a bit of time to kill in the meantime. I end up using the facilities in Medhall again. I really need to loot this place. I happily spend the rest of the day growing dozens of clones for harvest.

Tattletale's power is the main reason I'm doing this. I really don't feel like dealing with her right now and now I don't need to. With her power, interrogating Coil should be much easier.

Once I get back to the base I wake him up before switching to Tattletale's power. I take off my mask so he can see the gigantic smirk that seems to be a side effect of this power. It's not a Master effect. Maybe some weird quirk of human psychology?

"Hello Coil." Man, he is really scared of me. If he doesn't calm down he'll give himself a heart attack. Wow, and that's a lot of begging. Wait? What's he saying? "Cauldon. Contessa."

That's probably not good.

I can't actually sense anything, but that spot between my shoulder blades starts to itch. It may not mean anything, but I'm not taking any chances. If the Clairvoyant really is looking at me I need to get out of there. Now. I was nowhere near ready to face them.

Damn it.

I fill the air with Blood Bombs while crushing Coil's skull and IDing out. There was no way I was going to leave him alive. The frustrating thing was that I didn't get any of his assets!

I immediately stealth once I appear inside the Lizard Dungeon. Hopefully if they try to follow the Creeps will distract them. I might need to hunt down the Clairvoyant. I can't afford to be have Cauldron hunting me down.

Screw it.

There's a copy of the database in Accord's hands. I'm heading to Boston. Once I'm powerful enough it won't matter what they try.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I don't head immediately back to Boston. Instead I decide to burn off some frustration in my dungeons. Without any handicaps it's incredibly easy. Like playing Doom with God Mode on. It is very good for relieving stress.

Only a few dozen runs later I had unlocked the next stage. It was terribly annoying that the main skill I was trying to level wasn't able to be trained within my training dungeons. The runs weren't hard, but I was getting pretty bored. They were beginning to feel pretty monotonous.

The next level was called Boars. And just as I guessed, were Boarbatusks. They were all about level 30. Almost the same level as the zombie boss. Thankfully they were nowhere near as powerful.

Still though, 800 HP is really high in comparison to everything else I've fought so far. Hell the Creeps only had half that. If the creatures keep escalating like this, well the next stage may be the last one for quite some time.

They were also the most irritating creature I've faced by far. The way they use their rolling charge actually reminded me of some of my least favorite levels in Dark Souls. Avoid the wheels of pain. Lots and lots of dodging is involved.

Thankfully, unlike in Dark Souls, you can easily stab the boars as they go by. Well easy if you have my abilities. Thought Acceleration and Iaido for the win. Instant bacon.

They actually drop bacon thanks to Hearty Kill. Thanks to my dungeon I now have infinite bacon. I'm now convinced. Best random perk ever.

The boss is again, something I haven't seem before. I really wish I had watched more of RWBY. Then I might know what the hell a Beringel was. What it looks like is a giant bony gorilla.

 _[Beringel, Lvl 62]_

 _[HP: 40,000, MP: 200]_

 _[A lone viscious Grimm. With it's immense strength and vitality it's capable of performing awe-inspiring physical feats of destruction.]_

That...doesn't sound good.

It also had a crazy amount of HP. That's almost twice what the Deathstalker had!

If had the same amount of armor I'd have been incredibly pissed. It didn't. Fighting it was still drawn out because again, forty thousand hit points. Thank god it wasn't faster. The first time it missed and the shockwave blew me off my feet I started running.

I jumped on top of the closest building, only to see it punch the base of it and cause it to collapse. That's a ridiculous amount of strength. Unless it has an ability boosting it, he's much stronger than I am.

I didn't try to fight it in melee. It was actually terrifyingly efficient at it. It was pretty much a tank zombie from Left4Dead. Charge, punch. The problem was the explosions. Every once in a while, it would punch and there would be an explosion. The blast wave would spread over a huge area.

Simple, but horribly effective. And when I retreated it used it's version of Power Leap and just chased me. Thank god it's dumb. The same tactics I used on the Deathstalker work on it.

Kite and cast.

Way too many minutes later the last of it's ridiculous health pool is drained. It was annoying since each spell was like using a bucket to bail out a lake. He wasn't vulnerable to anything I had either. I might start looking at some of the sub-elements.

When the Beringel finally dies I get another skill book. I ate it and am actually pretty excited over my new skill.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Shock Wave (Active 100 MP) LVL 1 - 0%: Upon activation the user generates a concussive wave of force that damages everything in the area. The wave is a 90 degree cone 21 ft long or a radial burst 25% of that distance. The damage dealt is equal to the user's Strength + 1.]_

Shock Wave was exactly what I had been wanting. An AoE that doesn't target me. It does suck that I can't blanket an area in dozens of them simultaneously, but it's still a very decent ability. I also got the next version of health potions.

They were normal Health Potions so I'm presuming Greater is next. They also restore 200 HP. While nice, it likely means that later on potions are going to be kind of useless with how much HP I'll have and will presumably be losing during a fight. I guess it's more like DnD than I had thought. I guess I can sell them.

Running the Boar dungeon quickly becomes boring. The trick was to stand on top of a building and snipe the Boarbatusks as they rolled around below. They weren't smart enough to start delibrately collapsing buildings so I never ended up in any danger.

The Beringel was still tough but it also doesn't have any special senses so stealth also works against it. Sneak up, trigger Iaido to take off a good chunk of it's health at the beginning and then just kite and cast. The sneak attack wasn't actually necessary, but it was satisfying see how powerful several skills working together was. Between Aura, Melee Combat, Sneak Attack, Reinforcement and Iaido I did almost a thousand damage. With Reinforcement and the powers the bone sword added in and that easily doubled. When I criticalled, which was almost guaranteed after a few tries, I easily took off a fifth of it's health in the first strike.

I kept grinding the dungeon and pretty much ignored the Advanced Environmental Controls I unlocked for the Training ID. I wasn't really sure if I was ever really going to need that mode. Although the gravity dial might be worth using to help train strength at some point.

When I unlocked the next stage I dived right in. I was really feeling the pressure to be as strong as possible before everthing went to hell. No doubt I would be severely overpowered, but better that than the alternative.

It seems appropriate then that I unlock the dungeon called Wasps so close to the the story start. Well, what was supposed to be the story start. Hmm, I probably completely screwed up the timeline with my antics already. Meh.

When I first enter and see the two foot Vespa Grimm I'm tempted to load Skitter's power. I restrain myself though. I'm pretty certain I can't control them. And it looks like its going to be a repeat of the lizard dungeon, just in 3D.

I use my tattoos and spells to quickly mow the wasps out of the sky. I constantly use Shock Wave since they kept surrounding me. No doubt if I was using single target attacks they'd be nightmarish to face. Also, thankfully, they only had 500 HP so it didn't seem like the dungeon mobs were getting exponentially more powerful.

When the boss arrived I was caught by surprise. The Vespas didn't retreat. Instead they were all cut down by the hail of feathers the giant Nevermore used to announce it's arrival. Part of my surprise was that I hadn't realized how many wasps I had killed. It couldn't have been more than a minute or two!

 _[Nevermore, Lvl 75]_

 _[HP: 30,500, MP: 600]_

 _[A lone viscious Grimm. Capable of raining down devastating barrages of feathers. Combined with it's speed in the air and it poses a significant threat to entire areas.]_

Huh. Did not expect it to be more fragile than the Beringel. I guess it's flight was supposed to make up the difference? I laugh as I activate all my tattoos.

A giant dragonfly carries me aloft as swarms of rendered insects attack the Nevermore. They don't do much damage per hit, but entire volleys were striking it. Between that and volleys of spells it never stood a chance.

It dropped a skill I actually liked, if only because of how often I've seen it used in anime.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Far Strike (Active 75 MP / minute) LVL 1 - 0%: By infusing an attack with mana the force is projected outwards. User may make a melee attack up to 2 feet away as if there was no intervening distance.]_

Damn. I might actually just leave that one on. It's actually pretty useful. Two feet isn't much, but it's enough to throw someone off and hopefully it'll scale quickly. Going to have to get used to it, but it seems worth the trouble. Between that and Shadow Strike I'm going to have crazy reach.

It was while grinding the wasp dungeon that I finally unlocked something I had been hoping for ever since I had unlocked skill handicaps. Ability score handicaps.

Having raised my abilities so high, they were proving incredibly difficult to train. Especially Endurance since I had raised it to 100. Like the skill handicap, the penalty couldn't exceed my current ID skill. Thankfully that applied to the base score which meant I was able to lower most of my scores to under thirty. Except of course End which was still at 112 even with the highest penalty I could use.

As much as I wanted to, I held back from using the ability score handicap. I was currently grinding levels, and it would slow me down too much. It didn't take long to gain access to the next dungeon level.

The next stage proved to actually be familiar. Bears. Which likely meant Ursa Grimm. I had been wondering when they would show up.

 _[Ursa, Lvl 54]_

 _[HP: 1500, MP: 200]_

 _[Str: 65, Dex: 20, End: 50, Vit: 50, Int: 2, Wis: 14, Cha: 13, Luk: 2]_

 _[A large, semi-common Grimm. It's size and ferocity ensures they don't congregate in large numbers.]_

Of course, this doesn't apply if I'm in a dungeon. That is a lot of HP.

And he's charging. Let's see.

Any time now.

Damn they're slow.

Maybe I should drop Thought Accel? Screw it. I use my tattoo and watch as dozens of bugs slam into him. Well, at least he doesn't have tons of armor. Where are the rest?

Looking around I can see others all lumbering their way towards me, attracted by the fight. Wow, they really are spaced out. Looks like I'm actually going to have to hunt them down. This is like the zombie dungeon all over again. No quickly blowing through this stage to the next one. Maybe I'll train stealth here later.

I allowed the first Ursa to reach me to actually hit, curious about their damage. Other then being thrown back a few feet my health bar didn't move. That's...pathetic. I let him hit me full on and he can't even scratch me? If I didn't dislike being knocked around I'd just ignore their attacks.

Now there's a thought. What do I need to stop being knocked back?

 _[Requirements not met. Requires Str 100.]_

Damn. Reaching 100 in everything is looking more and more attractive. I can't wait to see what else I'll have available.

 _[Divine Form]_

 _[Reach 100 with every ability score.]_

 _[Reward: 1 Perk Point.]_

Yay a quest. And boo. I wasn't actually planning on raising Charisma or even Luck for quite a looong time. I guess the ability score handicap will help with Luck even if the training is boring.

And I guess Charisma did give me access to elemental affinities. Damn it. It's looking like I'm actually going to raise them after all.

Aaand no more enemies. That's weird? Where's the boss?

A thunderous trumpeting sounds in the distance. Looking over I can see a giant elephant emerging from the fog wall that borders the dungeon. That's new. Hey I recognize that! It's a goliath. Not that it'll help much since the show didn't have them doing anything.

As it fully emerges all I can think is, BIG. It's almost at tall as the legion zombie was. That's not an elephant, that's more like those ridiculous elephants from the LOTR movies! The four massive serrated tusks just increases the impression. Then I see two others start to emerge. What the hell? _Observe_.

 _[Goliath, Lvl 88]_

 _[HP: 20,000, MP: 100]_

 _[A terrifying Grimm reknown for being considered unstoppable. They are almost never fought head on. A herd is considered worse than a natural disaster.]_

Huh. I'm pretty sure the game is screwing with me. Three bosses seems a pretty steep jump in difficulty. Oh god, it's because I hit the halfway point isn't it? Stupid games and their inconsistant difficulty jumps.

As I run around the city I keep glancing back to admire the wave of debris rising from the goliaths plowing through every building in their path. It was pretty dramatic. They were chasing me pretty relentlessly.

I wasn't too worried. It was like the Ursa. They were big and strong. I just don't let it hit me. These were a bit more than just big and strong, but the same principle applied.

Man, they are not slowing down. Screw this. I activate my tattoos and have the dragonfly carry into the air. Once their I laugh at them until the first one uses it's trunk to throw a wall at me. Ok, so not like shooting fish in a barrel.

They also seemed to take toughness to a new level. 20k HP wasn't that bad. There being three was annoying, but still only 60k in total. However, even after I dropped the first one's health 0 it didn't actually die. I actually had to use Desperate Dodge to avoid it's attack I was so surprised.

I continued attacking it, but it's health bar still just read at 0. Sighing, I switched to attacking the others. This was going to be one of those annoying fights where they all had to be killed at the same time wasn't it?

The fight dragged on as I dropped the second to 0 and it didn't collapse either. Finally the third was reduced to 0. I started cheering and Desperate Dodge kicked in a second time. I looked down and saw they were all still there. What the hell?

I kept attacking even as I activated Thought Acceleration. There must be some condition I'm missing. There was no way the game would actually glitch, right? Because it's not like I can just reset.

A small detail caught my eye. I can actually see physical damage on the goliaths right now. That was different. Normally attacks just cause a puff of black smoke unless a piece gets cut off. These though, were showing ragged holes and gashes across it's body. Well, if nothing else I can literally tear the bosses apart until they can't fight back.

I kept attacking the goliaths, but it was half-hearted. What I was really focused on was searching for some kind of quest item or clue on how to win. Because like hell was I going to waste time fighting unkillable opponents if this was some kind of puzzle fight.

Almost an hour later I was horribly frustrated and pissed off at the goliaths. There also wasn't a town in my ID. Everything had been flattened. No giant unbreakable switch or floating weapons.

I'm going to go back to my first idea. I can search in peace once they can't actually attack. I darted down and unleashed everything. Continuous practice had raised Split Focus quite a few levels. Coupled with ambidexterity's dual weild I sent over fifty fire darts at the first goliath.

It was torn apart. I was about to repeat my assault at the second when I noticed the first one was disappearing in shards of light. Oh thank god.

I didn't cheer. I pointed one hand at each remaining goliath and volley cast fire javelins. It almost completely drained me of MP, which was a first, but dropped them both. I was done with this dungeon.

The skill book I received helped explain what had happened. Battle Continuation. Frankly it was an amazing skill and almost made up for the annoyance of the boss fight. Almost. If I hadn't wasted an hour looking for a quest item it probably would have. Still a great skill.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Battle Continuation (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: User does not die until reaching negative HP equal to 1% of his maximum HP. User has a 1% chance of ignoring any crippling status effects.]_

I loved it. The only problem would be training it. That part would suck. It also confirmed that I would have died at 0 previously. Good to know. Kind of disappointed I don't get dying levels or some other gimmick that keeps me from automatically dying from a powerful attack. Maybe something to try and develop later.

I definitely need to be careful around Endbringers. Not that I wouldn't have been careful anyway.

The worst part came about due to how long it took to kill the boss each time. It had tons of health and no vital spots. It did get easier since I could actually kill them one at a time, but still took forever. It didn't help that the Ursa weren't very fast and spread out so killing them was also a grueling affair.

I quit after my second run. This wasn't helping my mood any. Checking my watch I hope that the day and a half I spent grinding was long enough to throw Cauldron off my trail. I suspect I hadn't though, which was why I had also managed to raise several of my skills to 100, which turned out to be their maximum level.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I actually hadn't been inside Accord's place before. The fact that it was filled to the brim with deathtraps may have something to do with it. But now I was heading into the heart of his lair.

I was careful to stay inside an ID. In fact I made sure to switch between IDs fairly often. There was no way I wanted the Clairvoyant to find me any earlier than need be.

The inside of Accord's place interesting. Everything was obviously expensive, but the thing that struck me to strongest was the precise symmetry. Everything was perfectly balanced and matching. Sterile. It felt a bit like an over done museum display.

I did like many of the pieces he had and I decided this was another place I needed to loot once I set up a lair of my own. Or at least take inspiration from. Given the sheer number of traps it might be better to avoid keeping any of Accord's furniture.

Searching the building turned into a weird combination window shopping trip and game. The game portion was from the traps. They were everywhere. The majority were remote controlled. Since I was in an ID, they couldn't activate. Unfortunately many also contained automatic triggers.

I'm not sure why I was worried before. It turns out I wasn't in any real danger. The vast majority of his traps were very efficient, which meant they were geared to precisely deal enough damage to kill a human. So while they were difficult to dodge, they weren't insanely powerful.

I required much more force than most of the traps used to even scratch. Even the strongest of his traps failed to seriously wound me. Studying the myriad traps turned out to be pretty fun. Hell, I got four ranks in Craft just from dismantling traps. Kind of wishing I could have used a training ID.

The database was in the basement, in the middle of an enormous science lab. I hadn't realized he had set it up this early. Damn. Now I wanted everything.

Ha. After a moment's thought I have the perfect solution.

Not leaving the ID, I carefully break into the database and begin cloning all of the capes I felt I couldn't do without. I had a fairly long list and was determined to get as many as possible. I went ahead and spent a perk point on Memory Partition. The ability to clone four capes at a time would make this much faster. I'd put more, but there were only four cloning tubes.

Quickly I grew a fairly vast array of capes. This was more of a backup just in case. Paranoia is the name of the game. I quickly ended up running through all of the available materials and I still lacked actual samples. But the most important powers were now mine. Everything else from now on was just a bonus.

Of course the first cape I harvest I immediately load. If it wouldn't interrupt the rest of the clones growing in the vats I'd be tempted to laugh maniacally. A bit excessive, but obtaining Glaistig Uaine's power seemed an appropriate reason. Possibly as a side effect of learning the power through a skill book it seemed to have clearly defined limits.

I can only manifest three 'souls' at a time regardless of their power. There didn't seem to be any room for growth either. It did come with a touch based automatic harvest ability which will be useful if I'm attacked by Alexandria again. I also had the radar, which wasn't too useful given my minimap. Now all that's left is to load it with appropriate powers.

The rest of my first batch of clones were all of Eidolon. I remember how much stronger Glaistig Uaine had gotten after absorbing his power and wanted to see if the effect was cumulative. I eagerly ripped the shard impression, which looked like a soul, out of the first clone. As it settled in I could feel my power expand and the number of slots increase.

When I touched the second I felt the impression overlap with the first and then vanish. Damn it! It looks like I can't store multiple copies of the same parahuman. So much for my plan to infinitely increase my slots. Still there are lots of possible explanations. I need to test them all.

Just in case they somehow manage to ambush me while I'm experimenting I load Kudzu's powers. The perfect cloning power, each copy actually counts as the original. Pulling out a copy was slightly disorienting and not quite what I had hoped for. Oddly, it seems to turn me into a hive mind instead of multple perfect copies. Probably due to Special Snowflake. Seeing yourself from two different viewpoints was really weird. Now for the real test. _Inventory_.

I laugh as two windows pop up. After a moment I get a hold of myself.

It wasn't perfectly broken sadly. Each clone took up one of my Memory Partitions. I could make more beyond that, but they no longer counted as me. I might jump into one if the enough of the core clones died, but I wasn't eager to test that.

It was enough to speed up my testing though. Even better the hive mind broke me out of my rut. I had been a little too focused and ignored possibilities, something I really shouldn't do with me Int score.

I lose track of time. I clone every cape in the database. I experiment on the clones, combining powers, attempting to augment them and a host of other experiments. When I start to run low on materials I create a hybrid plant that consumes the rest of the building and converts it into biomass. Really should have done that ages ago. Stupid one track mind.

I managed to push the envelope of Glaistig Uaine's power. Hers and Eidolon's power were the hardest to work with. Very little I did could affect either power and separate instances of them seem to merge automatically. In the end I settled for using her power to absorb an Eidolon clone that had used it's own skill book. Nine isn't as high as I wanted, but still better than the six Valkyrie was limited too.

Since Doormaker still hasn't opened a portal into my ID I have time. I move on to creating the perfect power combinations. Or at least amusing ones.

Sniper was a combination of Quarrel and Flechette. Never missing with projectiles that can cut through anything seems like an easy enough method of killing anything. Even scion was wary of Flechette's power. She, since both capes were originally female, could also turn into a gigantic organic turret studded with eyes and equipped with a cannon that fires semi-living projectiles.

Giant bone darts that were easily the size of a 40mm grenade. They could spin silk strands up to ten feet, creating an enormous web that shredded everything they passed through. Good luck diverting one by avoiding the cutting edge.

As I experimented my creations became more and more elaborate. Secondary brains like in an octopus, loaded with a skill book and programmed extensively gave me ever more diverse options.

Reaper was based off Spree with a skill book for Moord Nag. Without a shard watching it, her power couldn't tell the difference from clones and normal people. A secondary brain for August Prince, Glory Girl and Winter finished it off.

The final creation, or guardian spirit as I decided to call them, was a robed skeletal entity that emitted an aura that caused dread even as it drained energy. Even as it drew attention no one would be able to bring themselves to attack it. With any luck people will end up believing it's the real thing.

As I got better I managed to fully network the brains to get them to better combine their powers.

Miss Militia was used as the basis to build an actual mech. War Machine wasn't an actual machine, just looking like one. A half dozen minor powers allowed it to wield an entire arsenal of weapons simultaneously, including a few tinkertech ones.

The powers from Number Man's and Chuckles are what made it truly terrifying. Who needed sophisticated targeting computers and prediction software when powers will fill the role so much better?

Biotinker and other power powers also unlocked other options for my creations. Many powers had limitations that a little work and imagination easily got around.

Werewolf was also based off Spree. I went a different route for this one. I turned him into a wolf man like in fantasy games. The wolf DNA allowed the use of Hellhound's powers to augment each clone as it emerged. Combined with extensive programmed instincts and it created a ravenous horde instead of just a chaotic mob.

Black Kaze could only teleport through the momentum of her sword swings. Augmenting her to be able to wield a sword in each hand and break the sound barrier with each swing didn't effect her power at all. Just made her that much more dangerous. I finished my creation by adding both Jack Slash and Oni Lee's powers.

Slowly I created an entire roster of guardian spirits for myself. In the story it took time for a faerie to recover when Glaistig Uaine lost one. I wanted to make sure there wasn't any chance of me running out.

My favorite was probably Fafnir. A name so much better than Lung. It combined his power with that of Gavel, Marquis and Spitfire. A gigantic fire breathing dragon was just too much to resist. I planned to use it as my personal mount.

Not everything was directly offensive. Nightmare was a combination of Night Hag's terrain alteration powers, Vista's space warping, Nyx's poisonous illusions and Screamer's sound control. Boost was even designed purely for support. With Cask, Lab Rat and a few other related powers he could create concoctions for almost anything. With Galvanate, Teacher and a few other similar powers, anymore effected temporarily became a very powerful and versatile cape.

A combination of Fog and Genesis created a very horror movie effect. Various monsters emerging from the mist was too entertaining an idea to pass up. Crusader's power meant the fog bank could reach enormous proportions and Skidmark's power allowed it to travel much faster as well as trap people inside. There were other powers I could have used but Skidmark's power made the fog glow.

I had long since stopped naming my creations. After the first dozen there was little point and it was getting boring. It wasn't like I was ever going to sit down and describe my guardian spirits and their abilities to anyone.

By the time I left my ID I had a small army of guardian spirits. Thirty various combinations of powers should be more than enough to deal with just about anything I am likely to come across in the near future. I've made ample use of many of the strongest capes on record. I doubt anything less than an Endbringer can even threaten me.

I had dozens of other ideas, but really didn't want to put off returning to Brockton Bay any longer. Making a clean sweep of the city had a very nice sound to it.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

When I leave my ID the first thing I did was grab the samples. The fact they were still here along with Accord meant Cauldron really had lost track of me. I doubt they'd leave so many assets for me otherwise. Thank you Blind Spot.

I didn't waste any time. I completely destroyed the building. I watched with satisfaction as my guardian spitis, guided by will, killed every parahuman that showed up on my minimap. In less than a minute the Ambassadors were wiped out. A few may have been out of range, but without Accord I didn't care enough to hunt them down.

A flicker on the map reveals Eidolon has shown up. He's using a stranger power in an attempt to hide from me. He's also alone.

Idiot. I seriously doubt Cauldron knows he's here. If they didn't they'd have shown up in force or not at all. So this is all him.

To kill or not to kill?

In the story the Endbringers attack Scion after he kills Eidolon. Will they attack me if I kill him?

 _Fuck it_.

Almost impulsively I give the order. All of my guardian spirits attack at the same time. No point taking any chances. Before he even realizes he's been spotted they strike. Blades, fire and other exotic effects slam into him and then he's gone.

Huh.

I always thought it'd be a lot harder. I pictured an epic battle raging across the planet. After all he managed to hold off Scion. I'm a bit disappointed.

Oh well. Better safe then sorry.

I wonder how long it'll take them to realize he's dead?

(A/N): Edited


	7. Interlude

Chapter 6 Interlude

 _This is worse then Glaistig Uaine._

Emily Piggot had still been making her way up the ranks during those days, but she remembered the fear. The oppressive atmosphere of general terror everyone had felt. The capes especially had panicked, leading to multiple teams attacking her and only making the situation worse. It had drastically lowered her opinion of capes. Something that had hit rock bottom after Ellisburg.

Like many of her fellow agents she had raised a toast to the brave PRT agent who had accomplished what no cape could and stop Glaistig Uaine. Inviting the Faerie Queen to retreat back to underhill had been a stroke of sheer genius.

And now it looked like it was about to happen again. This time though she was in a position to do something about. The problem was she had no idea what to do about it.

So she sat there clutching the report in front of her, glaring hard enough at it that it wouldn't be surprising to see it catch on fire. The surprisingly blank PRT internal report or more accurately threat assessment. One made for a cape labeled Nephilim. _Someones being clever. At least it's based on one of the very few things we do know about him._

Emily looked back up at the monitor showing the face of her superior. "This is useless. Possible Brute, confirmed Mover 5+? That's it? Nephilim has been rampaging for months and this is all we have?"

Rebecca's Costa Brown's reply, head of the PRT, was just as professional as the image she presented. "Thinker powers don't work on him. Given just how little time he appears it's suspected he can only manifest for brief periods of time. A possible Trump 9 is being considered."

Emily glances at the picture they have of a kid dressed like he's going to a goth metal concert. "What."

"We have evidence he used Oni Lee's power. The picture was taken of a copy of Nephilim found trapped within a stasis field. Only part of him was trapped but his entire body was frozen."

"We managed to study his image but attempts to effect him or remove him resulted in his crumbling to ash."

"Oni Lee." Emily's response was almost immediate as she realized the implications. "And you think he's heading back to Brockton Bay?"

"Current analysis suggests that Nephilim is drawn towards large concentrations of parahumans. Even after his brief visit Brockton Bay still has one of the highest concentrations in the world. And it's only likely to get worse now that the Empire 88 has made their announcement."

Emily grimaced. "Ah, yes. The supposed support of their racial superiority by Nephilim for not targeting them. Leaving aside the insanity of actually valuing the opinion of a Simurgh bomb. Besides that he also missed Lung."

Rebecca kept talking, clipped, precise and as bland as if discussing the weather. "After his rampage in both New York and Boston people are desperate to find something to hide behind. The Empire has already gained several recruits and if anything it seems to be speeding up."

Emily glared at the screen. "That's why I requested reinforcements! Not only have they gained new recruits, several of the independents have joined them. I can't keep order when we're so drastically outnumbered!"

The reply was not the one she wanted and was one she found she had trouble believing.

"What do you mean Thinker projections showed that the problem is not likely to be a long term one? Are you seriously suggesting just letting him do whatever he wants?"

"That's insane! Letting him loose is the last thing we should be doing! Besides he's already killed a Ward!" Emily was practically screaming at this point. _Why is she just ignoring this? She knows how dangerous capes are!_

For the first time Rebecca seemed to react. Her shoulder's slumped and suddenly she sounded so tired. "And just what do you suggest we do? This morning Eidolon attempted to capture Nephilim. He hasn't shown back up. Thinker support confirms his death."

Emily froze. This was suddenly so much worse that she had realized. She didn't even notice when the screen clicked off.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Rebecca automatically suppressed the urge to sigh when she logged off. With her body in stasis it wouldn't serve any purpose and she couldn't afford to show any weakness, not even to herself.

Her little act should keep Emily from throwing away any of her capes. Sometimes Emily's hatred made her a little too eager to respond. At least Tagg wasn't in charge. Although given his statements in the last meeting he might actually try to recruit Nephilim.

"Door." She quickly stepped through the portal to her next meeting. She was the last one there and even if she didn't show it, it hurt to see David's empty seat. _First Hero and now Eidolon. We're dying an inch at a time._

For a moment they were silent as if waiting for Eidolon to show up using some new exotic power. Predictably it was Doctor Mother who got the meeting started. "Contessa. Any progress finding a path leading to any information about our latest issue?"

The reply was clipped and precise. "My power cannot touch him. Much like Eidolon it fails to show anything directly connected to him. This extends to a degree to anyone he's likely to affect as well. Thanks to the efforts of Dragon he have managed to track his path. It's confirmed. He originated from Canberra."

It was Number Man who interrupted. "Evidence?"

"CC TV cameras along with drone footage. Dragon pieced together multiple confirmations of him disappearing from one area and appearing in another. Heat signatures also often show a distinct lack of any trail when he does. He is likely teleporting.

"And given the places he has shown up it's not line of sight. The only weakness seems to be one of range. It seems to be limited to within a half mile. He also doesn't appear instantly. It takes time to use."

It was Doctor who interrupted then. "Which means containment is unlikely to be an option."

"Yes. Further with the evidence that Nephilim is collecting powers he has likely shored up his weakness at least in part with the death of Oni Lee. With the death of Eidolon it is likely he no longer has an exploitable weakness."

Everyone in the room froze at that statement. Number Man broke the silence as calmed spoke up. "It is likely he is Eden's counterpart to Glaistig Uaine. Given how the Simurgh attacked Madison destroyed a large portion of our facilities and the next time she shows Nephilim is created. It may even be that the entire point of her assault there was solely to obtain his formula."

No one spoke of a moment after that statement. The only one who didn't seem affected was Contessa who continued her report as if there hadn't been any interruptions.

"We only know he's heading back to Brockton Bay only because I tried to create a path involving the Empire 88. It failed. Completely. Which likely means Nephilim will be involved. However paths shorter than a week are still viable."

"Why were you making a path for the Empire 88? I thought Brockton Bay was supposed to be hands off?" You could hear the distaste in Legend's question.

"Parahuman numbers have risen dramatically in the past few days. It seems not only have most of the independents joined up, recruits from other cities have started pouring in. They're numbers have almost doubled by this point."

"He's luring them in." Rebecca was barely aware she whispered that aloud. That changes everything. It means Nephilim is intelligent enough to actually plan ahead. It also means he might be able to be able to be reasoned with.

"It seems so. It also indicates a change in Nephilim's behavior pattern's."

She looks around the table. Legend might be a problem. They could talk him around but it'll be just one more issue that weighs on his conscience. Still, what was one more secret.

Surprisingly Legend spoke up again. "And what about Shadow Stalker? Nephilim killed a Ward. We can't just let that go!"

It seems Legend was having difficulty viewing the situation rationally. Definitely keeping any plans involving Nephilim secret from him. He was hard enough to convince to leave Siberian alone.

Rebecca resisted the urge to sigh. _This was going to be a long meetibg._


	8. Guild

Chapter 7 Guild

My return to Brockton Bay was dramatic. With my guardian spirits I didn't fear anything anymore. Not to say I was careless. I used a clone made with Kudzu's power. Still me, but making it perfectly safe to appear in public now. Besides, I still have danger sense.

Large portions of the city were smoking. It seems leaving Lung behind was a mistake. A clone had read reports of the massive outbreak of gang violence that had erupted in my wake. Seeing the reports revealed how drastically the situation had changed.

For all intents and purposes there was only one gang left. The Empire 88. Them and Lung. Everyone else had joined up or left town. Even crazier some of them seemed to have specifically traveled to Brockton Bay to join up.

The Protectorate was doing what it could, holding press conferences and signing as many new capes on as possible. Among them was a Weaver. _Well nice to see Taylor seems to have landed on her feet._

Wow. Canon is really dead. It also looks like I'm never going to get my hands on Coil's assets. What Cauldon didn't take was most likely grabbed by Tattletale. Shame.

My public clone didn't use any guardian spirits. No need to panic anyone early. No, I used a quirk of Glaistig Uaine's powers I had discovered. Even if I didn't summon a spirit I can still channel their powers. I can only use one this way but I only needed one.

Hatchet Face. Minor brute powers along with a field that shut down all powers in range. Of course I don't exactly have any solo spirits. So along with him I gained Velocity and Assault.

I targeted Lung. He was in the way of my plan. He was also currently fighting several Protectorate heroes, including Armsmaster.

Perfect.

I appeared in a blur and reached out and at the last instant slowed down. I then slapped Lung, converting momentum into force. The impact sent out a shockwave that shattered nearby windows.

Lung's jaw ripped off and he staggered backwards. You could see the shock in his eyes when he didn't start healing. Instead his flames all died and he started turning back.

I get hit from behind which only really registered because of the small kinetic energy I gained. Suddenly containment foam billowed out around me.

Ok. Looks like danger sense isn't perfect.

I consider teleporting out, but flex first. I tear through it relatively easily. Huh. Maybe my danger sense is fine. Looks like I'm strong enough to just ignore containment foam.

I burst free and dash into Lung. Only a moment has passed. With Velocity's power it doesn't matter how fast he tries to run.

I stab my arm through his chest and tear out his heart. That should be dramatic enough. I'm fairly sure I slowed down enough to confirm my presence as well. As soon as I get my loot I ID out.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Over the next two weeks I set up my plan. I'm powerful, but I want a base to work out of. I also want resources, a lot of resources. Both of which I can get here.

There are plenty of other places that would work, but Brockton Bay hs one major advantage over everywhere else on this Earth. It's been written off by Cauldron. They want to test out parahuman feudalism. Why disappoint them?

I started with the ABB farms. Horrible violations of human rights, many of the girls there were barely functional after their years of abuse. Which made them perfect for me.

Most people would resist the idea of being rebuilt. Most of the girls volunteered before I even finished my offer. Well, those that responded. The very few who refused I let go. I had more then enough for my purpose.

I load several skillbooks into each of them and then augment them physically. Each one is gifted with a very specific pair of powers. Oni Lee and Devil Child.

Oni Lee could create clone and had virtually no downtime between uses. Devil Child meant they didn't need to carry grenades. They could create explosions when they appeared. The danger sense would also keep them alive. The minor brute package was just icing on the cake.

Some work with my guardian spirit Trainer and they easily mastered their new skills. And it wasn't like they weren't motivated. I took a short trip to Canada to kill Heartbreaker. I don't want any chance of them turning on me later.

A set of animated tattoos completed their transformation. I didn't just copy the ones I had. Instead I designed a new set for them.

Along with a sword generator they had a tattoo of an actual sword. While not renewable it meant the actual sword were more powerful. The sword I designed was a pure cutting blade with an edge based off Armsmaster's nanothorn project.

They also had a scaled up version of my dart bug hive tattoo. The insects were closer to small artillery shells or rockets then bullets. The downside was they could only fire one at a time and not too quickly. Still, they weren't intended to face armies. Against single targets it was perfect.

A couple of the girls I had saved I had uploaded tinker powers into. They built the armored costume they all wore along with some supplemental gear.

The Protectorate had tried, but the Empire had made very steady progress in their efforts to take over the city. They rampaged freely through neighborhoods and burned shops down. They kept from waging all out war only because they felt they had already won.

In a single night I changed that.

One of the typical attacks occurred involving Victor. He was why I had delayed an extra few days. I personally dropped down to capture him. He had way too many skills saved up to waste.

A touch and a flexing of Panacea's power and he was asleep. Not wanting to take any chances I gave the order out to my lieutenants even as I retreated to an ID.

I had almost a hundred lieutenants. Since I had drawn from a variety of asian cultures I avoided them all. They were collectively called Daughters of the Demon and wore blue demonic noh masks patterned after the one Oni Lee used. Between Oni Lee's power and their state when I recruited them more personalized costumes weren't really a possibility.

Every single one of them deployed that night. They all had the same instructions. Kill every member of the empire they run into. Keep the body of any capes they kill. Don't kill any Protectorate. Don't get captured.

I tried to make my instructions fairly comprehensive. I wasn't going to wait though. Once in the ID I quickly grew a clone of Victor using a combination of powers. Then I harvested it before loading it and stripping him of all of his stolen skills.

Even with my augmented mind it took some time to fully understand what I gained. Victor had thousands of skills. Almost every one of them was perfected as well. Once I calmed down I pulled up my character sheet and just stared at it. It had grown exponentially.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

The next morning I checked to see the results. As expected and hoped all of my lieutenants were present. I expected that. Not only were they present in overwhelming numbers, they were trained to work together. I even supplied them with a couple of health potions each.

Even better they were successful. Not that it came as a surprise. After all I got the quest alert hours ago. Virtually every cape the Empire 88 possessed had been killed. A few survived, but not any of the ones I really cared about.

The Protectorate had attempted to interfere, but were easily overwhelmed. They did interfere enough to secure a few of the empire capes though. Which was the reason I wasn't annoyed several of the heroes had been maimed by the Daughters.

Either way the empire was broken. Best of all I now had new samples and more importantly new bodies to justify creating better minions. I really wanted to hide the fact that I can biotinker my own guardian spirits for as long as possible.

Now that the pressure is off I start raiding the other farms. I also hit some drug dens that are for the most desperate. Between them I have plenty of people to convert. It feels a bit wrong to use powers like Teacher and Heartbreaker on people who aren't catatonic, but I'm not about to create an army that can turn against me.

Programming useful loyal intelligent minions was horribly time consuming. I didn't want to chance losing any of them in battle so they weren't designed offensively. Alabaster's power meant they were extremely durable. Paired with Hemophagia's power they were very dangerous since they had an endless supply of blood. With Cricket's enhanced reflexes and sonar added in they should be strong enough to at least survive against almost any other cape, especially if backed by a few Daughters.

Thank god my intelligent minions had been able to name themselves. They had even customized their gear and tattoos. Too bad I only had three of them since they took so much work to make. Still, they should be more then enough to run my gang.

Seeing how many homeless people existed though showed that I didn't really need to worry about hiding my numbers by converting people. The only possible problem was DNA samples so I used Trainwreck as a basis. As one of the more exotic Case 53s he didn't seem to have DNA.

His powers were a bit problematic to work around at first since his powers kept trying to undo any changes I made. When I finally got it working the result was better then I had hoped for. Much like an octopus secondary brains all worked together. With so many brains it was easy to upload most of the tinker powers I currently possessed. The result was a bit like a limited version of Dragon.

Even better I was able to incorporate Kaiser's power along with a couple of other material generators. With that I now had essentially walking factories for tinkertech. I put so much effort into them because they were the true basis for what I was doing. Not the 'gang' I had set up. No I intended to create a society based entirely off tinkertech.

It would be a closed community relying on barter and manpower. No one would get rich, but they would be provided for. Even better through outside trade I can get money and resources for other projects for myself.

Programmed from their 'birth' they didn't have much of a personality. I didn't even name them, I just gave them serial numbers. Sadly it meant I also had to made another intelligent minion to serve as their leader.

Since the tinkers weren't supposed to be fighting I went with another tinker setup. This time I chose biotinkers. Bonesaw, Lab Rat, the food tinker and a few others. Panacea's power completed the setup. Hopefully everything will be blamed on him.

Setting everything up was surprisingly easy. Thanks to my high luck Lung's safe had survived and been overlooked until I found it. He had the property deeds to hundreds of buildings stored there. He really was a dragon. Many of those buildings weren't even being used. The deeds were just being hoarded.

Between my minions any myself it was a breeze getting the community started. Within a day I had hundreds of people moving in. Within a week the commune was self-sustaining. Powers really were bullshit.

And then of course there was me.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Mastermind]_

 _[Create or take over a criminal organization with at least 10 members.]_

 _[Subobjective 1: Have at least 100 members.(success)]_

 _[Subobjective 2: Have at least one other cape.(success)]_

 _[Subobjective 3: Have at least 5 capes.(success)]_

 _[Reward: 4 Perk Points.]_

Niiiice. Looks like it's time to spend some points. _Perks_.

Damn. That's a lot of points. More then just quests can justify.

Huh. I leveled up. Aand dump all my points into Wis really quickly. And 100! Now let's study the updated list.

 **Available Perks** **(Current Points: 22)**

 **Above Your Weight (Skill, increase own effective mass)**

 **Adept (lower MP cost of 1 skill)**

 **Analysis (Skill, increase chance to figure out how to land a telling blow)**

 **Animal Empathy (communicate better with animals)**

 **Ant Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on Str and Dex by 5%)**

 **Beginner's Luck (better to be lucky than good, luck improved novice skill level)**

 **Bloodlust (every kill within Harvest range grants Sta)**

 **Critical Success (increased probability of obtaining a critical hit)**

 **Easy as Breathing (reduce Sta cost of 1 skill)**

 **Elemental Nature (gain affinity to a single primary element, may select sub-element if already possess both parent elements)**

 **Explorer (automap feature)**

 **First Impression (bonus to starting reputations)**

 **Flash Step (Skill, short range teleport)**

 **Fleet (Increase top speed by 2 mph)**

 **Insomnia (reduce time required to sleep)**

 **Inspirational (Skill, provide morale bonus to followers)**

 **Intensive Training (+2 to one Ability)**

 **Jinx (Skill, allows user to curse target with bad luck. Minor annoyances will occur throughout duration. Cannot cause death.]**

 **Long Haul (reduce encumbrance penalty on End by 10%)**

 **Lucky Break (Skill, shift probability to favor you once)**

 **Mana Affinity (increase reserves while decreasing mana cost of skills)**

 **Mana Battery (Gain additional 1 MP per point of Int)**

 **Mana Generator (Mana regen increased by 1)**

 **Mana Regenerator (Mana regen speed increased)**

 **Memory Partition (true multitasking)**

 **Mobility (one skill is easier to use while moving)**

 **Pack Mule (Equip Load increases by 10 lbs)**

 **Pack Rat (Inventory item weight limit increased by 5 lbs)**

 **Quick Recovery (reduce rest period before refilling Stamina)**

 **Regenerator (HP regen rate increases by 1)**

 **Silver Tongue (gain reputation easier and lose it slower)**

 **Skilled (+5 ranks in one Skill)**

 **Soul Evolution (consume soul gems to gain perk points)**

 **Soul Infusion (consume appropriate soul to gain temp boost to a single ability score)**

 **Stable (one skill is easier to use while not moving)**

 **Toughness (Gain additional 1 HP per point of Vit)**

 **Trader (vendors grant better buying and selling prices)**

 **Vigorous (Gain additional 1 Sta per point of End)**

 **Well Rested (gain additional 10% XP from kills after sleeping)**

Well that's a no brainer.

 _Soul Evolution. Yes_.

 **Soul Evolution: Gain 1 Perk Point when consuming a Grand Soul Gem. Cannot be used in tandem with Soul Infusion.**

Huh. _Inventory_.

A few quick consumptions later and I now have a very nice credit of points. _Maybe I should have saved some?_

Eh. I dump 15 points into Quick Recovery, the maximum possible to drop my recovery time from 3 minutes to 30 seconds. Not the instantaneous I wanted, but still very useful.

Since I'm focusing on trying to make my skills as powerful as possible I grab Mana Affinity. A 10% decrease in spell cast along with a 5% increase in reserves? Sign me up! I buy it 5 times before the option disappears. Sad, no free spells for me.

Increasing how fast I gain mana may work. After all it's all about stacking advantages. I buy Mana Regeneration and if it wasn't for my observe I might never have noticed I gain a point every 59 seconds instead of every minute.

Damn. So potentially very powerful, but just as expensive.

Screw it. I dump most of my remaining points in it. Now I gain a point every thirty seconds all for the crazy high price of 30 perk points. The last 7 points are split between Mana Generator and more Memory Partitions.

Seven bodies means it's that much less likely I'll ever get killed.

Huh. I sounded a bit like Voldemort just then. That's probably not a good thing.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Dungeons are a great way for me to unwind. There's something cathartic about being able to just slaughter everything in sight without having to worry about any consequences.

It's too bad I might be a little too powerful now. I easily clear the dungeons. If I was a battle junkie it might be depressing. Especially considering I unlocked Horde Mode. Endless waves of increasingly difficult enemies and all of them too weak to really challenge me.

I blow through them all. Some are repeats from earlier or just stronger versions such as Alpha Beowolves. Others are completely new. Spiders, bats, sheep and all kinds of other creatures. Everything had it's own gimmick. A trick to make them a unique challenge.

All useless.

With all of my powers they all died quickly, easily and if including my guardian spirits, effortlessly. I was thankful each wave at least granted me a new skill. Otherwise it'd be a complete waste of time.

The first ironically was Life Drain. Now that I was finally powerful enough that I no longer cared about it it shows up.

The next dungeon stage is equally as easy. Some kind of porcupine and a ghost boss. At least the newest training option was a decent one. Time Dilation.

Once I would have considered it game breaking. With my Trainer guardian spirit it doesn't matter nearly as much. Again with a skill when it's no longer as useful to me. Whoever designed my powers is a dick.

At least I'm also leveling up. At this rate I'll have enough points to raise both Dex and Vit to the 100 benchmark. I probably shouldn't have spent all those points raising Str to 200 just to see if even crazier perks unlocked.

Sadly none did. It seems 100 is the cap. Still, I very likely would have kept grinding if not for the notice.

 _[A new quest has been created.]_

 _[Surviving the Siren]_

 _[Participate in the Endbringer battle against the Simurgh.]_

 _[Reward: 2 Perk Points]_

Ha. I chuckle to myself as I mentally hit yes. Well looks like it's show time.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

When I exit the ID I can hear the Endbringer sirens blaring across the city. I start making my way to the Protectorate HQ. Below me the streets were choked as people crowded and panicked. Idiots.

I dropped down to get a Parahuman Response pamphlet from a police officer. I know they're gathering at the PRT headquarters but I wasn't sure if they're were any special rules. He does his best to dissuade me. Fucking child's body. I glare at him as I snatch the paper from his hand. Then I'm back into an ID.

I follow the directions. When I exit I'm able to follow Dragon's suits to where everyone was gathering. People were streaming in when I arrived, most of them heroes. I didn't really expect much else, not many villains would care about a city on the other side of the world and well I've killed all the ones already here.

I gathered more than a few odd looks. I can tell the moment they recognize me. A group of the strongest heroes comes to confront me. Alexandria, Armsmaster and Dragon among them.

I ignore them. I also interrupt Legend's less then inspiring speech.

"My name is Wild Hunt. I'm heading out first. No one get in my way or I'll kill you."

Everyone seems stunned. Maybe the last part was too much? As I began flying up I hear shouting breaking out behind me. Only Dragon follows.

As I ascend I began casting the last of my buffs. All of my longer term ones had been placed before I even arrived. I wanted every advantage. Well, every advantage without giving too much away. It was for that reason I wasn't manifesting any guardian spirits.

Instead I was channeling one I had created just for this fight. Allfather to create swords, Adamant and a few telekinetics to accelerate them to several times the speed of sound and finally Flechette to make them unstoppable. I called it Gilgamesh.

I knew I could kill the Simurgh with a simpler method, but I wanted to make it a spectacle. A grand fight that rages across the sky and makes everyone who sees it fear me.

I opened with a volley aimed at her eyes. I know they aren't important but needed to test something. When they struck without her even trying to dodge I realized just how easy this fight was going to be. If anything I was going to have trouble holding back long enough to showing off.

The Simurgh wasn't idle. She realized something was wrong as soon as she was hit. She dropped down much faster then before and started tearing up buildings to build a protective shell. I followed, continuously spraying out gleaming blades that chipped away at her body.

Other capes joined in, flying in teams to try their luck. I waited until the first wave was about to retreat and the second arriving before making my move. I needed witnesses for this.

I IDed close enough I was inside her shell. Then I activated Quarrel's power for the first time and took aim at every joint on her body. A single massive volley of swords lanced out and shredded her. I made sure the left wing joint was targeted by one of the larger blades.

The Simurgh shattered. Like glass her body broke apart into tiny crystalline fragments. Aside from the sound of crashing rubble the city goes silent. It seems everyone is having trouble believing what happened.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Surviving the Siren]_

 _[Participate in the Endbringer battle against the Simurgh.]_

 _[Reward: 2 Perk Points]_

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Bringing the End (Repeatable)]_

 _[Kill an Endbringer.]_

 _[Reward: 5 Perk Points]_

Woah. Looks like I'm going to be hunting down the other two as well. _Maybe I should have waited on killing Eidolon?_

I make sure to grab what's left of the core along with a few chunks from her body before leaving. I have plans for her powers. Now that I know I'm immune to them it doesn't seem nearly as risky to use them the way Blasto had attempted.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Testing out my samples was a dream. My tinkers had created a lab that far surpassed that Accord had set up. In addition the samples from the Simurgh were incredibly easy to work with.

Any creation made using the Simurgh's flesh was incredibly durable and strong. It also regenerated at decent rate. The biggest difference though was how they thought. The thought processes were cold and calculating with all emotion stripped away.

Using the core was worse. It gifted them with precognition but meant they couldn't even perceive me. Only by implanting instinctive behaviors was I able to influence them. Aside from a few guardian spirits I quickly harvested I largely abandoned using the core.

The only advantage was I was able to create one very specific guardian spirit. An advanced tinker trump who was able to easily surpass my own efforts in bioengineering. I couldn't resist and even though he didn't look anything like the zerg character named him Abathur.

Abathur's suggestions were actually incredibly useful. Non-human body types allow for greater specialization in combat roles. The use of the powers implanted could easily be maximized. Best of all guardian spirits made in that fashion would not be immediately connected to Glaistig Uaine.

I quickly ended up resetting my powers in order to rebuild my guardian spirit roster. Other than including Simurgh flesh most of their powers stayed the same. Abathur meanwhile easily produced another dozen combinations from powers I had previously overlooked.

I would likely have stayed in my lab building up my guardian numbers of quite some time if I hadn't been attacked. Several of the Daughters and seemed to abruptly gone berserk and attempted to kill myself and the other lieutenants. Good thing they were so durable.

It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on. Valefor. He must have implanted suggestions in several of the Daughters. The Fallen must be in town.

It doesn't completely stop my experiments. By now I can have up to a dozen clones operational. I send them all out.

Between them I quickly scan the city. There are a lot more capes then I thought there would be. At least I didn't have to wonder why. God Observe is such a broken ability.

Two new gangs. The Red Hands and the Elite were present. The Fallen were also present in force. Which made sense. I did kill one of their gods after all. I wonder what they would think about my experiments. Would they be outraged or demand to be similarly augmented?

Not that it matters.

I take a few minutes to set up. With teleporting minions I don't need much. When I give the order the remaining Daughters all flash down and slaughter every villain besides of course the ones that work for me.

Valefor gets killed by a Daughter who has her eyes closed. Since the creation of Abathur a number of subtle upgrades had been made to the Daughters. Among them were sonar via Cricket's power and a host of other senses through more mundane means.

Looking over the city in the aftermath it's plain that things have changed drastically. It makes sense. The only remaining 'gang' is mine, which apparently everyone is just calling the Oni. It's not great, but better than anything I had thought of.

It does inspire me to expand. I had taken samples from, but not killed Heartbreaker's children. I know they were all borderline sociopaths, but so was I. I had been keeping them in a hibernated state until now while I thought about what to do.

I woke each of them up and offered to employ them. They debated it, but I never doubted the outcome. After all I was the one who had killed their father. In the end I gained a group of children, all with Master powers. Since they were so young, the oldest was fourteen, I ended up spending a point so I could use a clone to watch over them. It wasn't a total waste since I really should be watching over my minions closely. It wasn't like I had made the effort to make any of them particularly bright.

And then of course I make more mindless minion. I assigned each of them a new one based off Menja and Fenja. They would serve them as bodyguards. Of course they also incorporated enough Simurgh flesh to make them mid-tier brutes in their own right before growing.

For fun I costumed them in an odd blend of samurai armor and Darth Vader's suit. The chest piece was shaped like the masks the Daughter's wear. And since the gang was being called Oni I armed them with giant metal spiked clubs.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I left Brockton Bay in the hopefully able hands of my gang.

It wasn't as if I truly trusted any of them since most of them were fairly mindless. Not a solid foundation. Although it was plenty strong and that seemed to work for Lung.

No, this was a test. I had a fair number of people apply for important positions. While none of them were capes I didn't really care about that part. I had capes. What I was lacking was competent subordinates. Even the brightest ones I've made were fairly limited except in whatever area they focused on. I wanted intelligent minions.

So I took all of the applicants and gave them small operations. Smuggling, mild drug trade and other crimes I don't mind being associated with. I had already Observed them for loyalty, now I just need to check their competence. Hopefully some of them do well enough I can promote them.

On the way out I noticed the massive amount of construction work going on in parts of the city. It seems the death of an Endbringer has turned Brockton Bay into a symbol of hope. And now everyone wants to move here.

As for me, I was hunting down the most likely threat to my gang. I was after the Elite. They were probably the most successful criminal organization in the United States. Having already fought off a group of them I wasn't feeling like waiting. Besides they have come powers I lack.

While I had gotten Agnes Court, probably there for the construction contracts, and which I intended to do myself now, there were several other leaders. I was going to kill them all.

My spree was fairly haphazard. I moved to a major city and ran through it, continuously scanning. Any parahuman criminal one of my bodies encountered was immediately assassinated. Then I moved on.

I doubt I got all the villains, but I no doubt killed the majority in every city I visited. Using a combination of powers I shifted around so make my visits random.

A few days for each city and in no time at all a month went by. I actually ended my rampage because my gang was contacted by Toybox. It seems the large amount of illegal tinkertech has been noticed and they were interested in an alliance.

I was definitely interested. At least half a dozen tinkers whose powers I don't currently have? I immediately teleported back to Brockton Bay.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

When I got back I found out it wasn't only the presence of tinkers that had prompted Toybox. While I was away the Slaughterhouse 9 had attacked. While they had killed a number of Daughters My victory was overwhelming.

Shatterbird had screamed and drawn my entire gang down on them. It seems adding Cricket's powers was more useful then expected. It allowed the Daughters to trace back Shatterbird's location. The Daughters all rushed in before the Slaugherhouse 9 had a chance to scatter.

There wasn't any video but I can just imagine the wave of bodies washing over the S9. Almost all of them had been caught surprise and killed. Even Jack Slash.

Siberian had rampaged for a few days before one of my smugglers noticed Manton's van. He was definitely getting promoted.

Bonesaw survived. She was captured because of her plagues. She seemed to getging along fanously with Abathur and I intended to keep her. It shouldn't be hard to keep her happy. Maybe set up some kind of maternal figure and a nudge in the programming of the Daughters to act like a big sister.

Crawler was captured when the Protectorate took advantage of the attack. Cauldron was likely involved give Alexandria showed up. Still it was clearly my victory. Of rather the Oni's victory.

I know that was all of them because as soon as Bnoesaw accepted my offer to join I received a notice.

 _[Quest completed.]_

 _[Slaughtering the Slaughterhouse]_

 _[Ensure the Slaughterhouse 9 are destroyed.]_

 _[Reward: 2 Perk Points.]_

Two points. Very nice. I'm betting it's because it's an S-class threat. Might be worth hunting the other S-class threats down later if they all give rewards like that.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I spent my ability points before my meeting. I had more then enough to reach 100 with both Dex and Vit. I even managed to raise Cha to 70. My rampage paid off in more ways then one.

That of course unlocked new perks which wasted no time in checking out.

 **Change of Pace (abilities and skills no longer have to work in straight lines)**

 **Improved Regeneration (Health regen speed increased)**

 **Light Step (Skill, negate effects of own mass)**

 **Perfect Regeneration (Skill, heal status effects as well as HP)**

 **Reflect (Skill, with Deflect chance to attack)**

 **Resistance Training (permanently adapt against one type of damage.)**

Thankfully I had plenty of perk points due to Soul Evolution. It seems capes have a really high chance of dropping Grand Soul Gems. This really was the best perk I've ever bought.

I buy Change of Pace. Which is not what I thought it would be. Only a three degree turn? That's...ah, I can buy it multiple times. So potentially crazy powerful but also expensive. Next.

Improved Regen is probably like Mana Regenerator. Spending a point confirms it. Pass for now. Hmm. _Perfect Regeneration_.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Perfect Regeneration (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: Level percentage chance of removing a crippling status effect every 59 minutes. If at full heath time is reduced to 9 minutes 50 seconds.]_

The hell? 59 minutes? Wait... is it dependent on Improved Regeneration? I drop another point in it and yep 58 minutes.

Hmm. Suddenly Improved Regen is looking important.

Although I can probably wait. It's not like I can't just sleep to remove all status effects. So another ten points into Mana Regenerator. I wonder how much further I can lower the time. It's already down to 20 seconds.

As I continue to consume all the soul gems I had gathered I decide to invest in Luk. After all it has been a fairly massive influence lately. I doubt so many fortuitous coincidences would be happening around me otherwise. Almost makes me wish I had saved more points so I could reach 100.

Still I can at least buy some of the perks. Let's see. Critical Success is still available.

Sadly five points later it caps. Only a +10% chance. Well let's try Analysis then.

 _[New skill learned.]_

 _[Analysis (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%: When holding Observe on a target gain a +1% chance to land a critical hit every minute.]_

A quick jaunt into an ID and use of my Trainer guardian spirit and I maxed the skill. A +11% chance every ten seconds was more then decent. Not as good as more points in Critical Success, but still decent. Probably a better fit for the Daughters though.

I almost dump the rest of the points into more Memory Partitions but a thought stops me. Just how far can a clone travel away from me?

A few tests later and I conclude I don't seem to have a range limit. Well, besides same planet and maybe just same dimension. Looks like I need to boost my clones.

Regenerator gains two points and then the remaining are used on Improved Regeneration bringing the time down to an even thirty points. Not quite as fast as my mana refresh rate, but a point every ten seconds is still decent. Especially considering how durable I already am.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

With my discovery I spread out. Most of my clones continue my campaign against the Elite even as another goes to the meeting with Toybox.

The meeting is pretty boring. I easily agree to most of their offers. Tech trade? Why not, it's not like the Oni's production is limited. Materials trade? Same argument since I'm cheating using powers. Defensive Pacts? Why of course I'd like access to your base and allow you to shelter in mine.

The last was the best part. I of course used Blood Flies to sneak samples from Dodge. Sadly the other two were in full body armor. Still with access to their base it was only a matter of time before I got their DNA.

Besides, I'm in no hurry. Dodge was the real prize here. If I was going to face Scion I needed powers geared towards multiple dimensions. Dodge's power was perfect for engineering solutions that I would have had to find a new power for.

I could afford to be generous now. After all as far as I was concerned the meeting was a success already. Everything else was pure gravy.


	9. Cutscene

Chapter 8 Cutscene

While Dodge was going to be useful against Scion, Cranial turned out to be vital for pretty much everything else. His specialty of neurology meant I could now build entire personalities. At long last I can just make my own intelligent minions!

While a few recruits have proven themselves and I promoted them, the vast majority were just average. Besides none of them have powers of their own and giving them one wasn't worth it. Instead I'm now going to use them for something much more subtle.

Just cloning someone isn't enough to give them the same power. Implanting similar memories strengthens the bond between shard and host. Confirming Bonesaw's experiments in the future that will never be, the shard really is parasitic. It has a tendency to spread throughout the mind if left unchecked, resulting in little more than a rabid animal.

It makes sense. I already knew that powers tend to alter behavior. The urge for conflict if nothing else. Younger, more vulnerable hosts also tend to be stronger. Now, thanks to Cranial's abilities I can control just how much influence a shard exerts over it's host. I can make the equivalent of a Cauldron cape, with only a mild violent streak or I can make someone like Black Kaze. Insane, but still just barely functional. And so very powerful, able to draw upon the full might her her shard.

With real assets I spent some time building some actual intelligent subordinates. It's all thanks to Cranial that I don't even need to restrict myself. Rather than only using powers from capes I've publicly killed I can use any power I have. I just need to adjust it enough to not be recognizable.

The sudden flood of new parahumans joining my organization is accepted surprisingly easily. People had panicked initially over the Daughters of the Oni, talking about cloning and other theories. Only after analysis revealed there were all different people with very similar powers did it die down. The current theory was some kind of second generation group trigger.

I take the opportunity to reveal as least part of my tinker network. No need to hide it now. Just like my new lieutenants everyone just seems to assume that they were all capes who moved here. Just like the rest of the people who want to live where an Endbringer had died. What I'm most surprised by is the fact the government isn't making an issue of it.

Cauldron really does seem to mean to keep their hands off Brockton Bay. Whether that's because of their experiment or my presence doesn't matter. Either way the Protectorate is slowly pulling out, downsizing their presence, citing the lack of parahuman crime as their reason.

Their reasons aren't wrong. Parahuman crime is at an all time low. Of course that's because my gang is the only one that exists in Brockton Bay and all their crime is much more subtle. I spent a week taking over a number of assets. Including Fortress Constructions.

It turns out Tattletale was now running it. She didn't join the Protectorate, instead she disappeared into the civilian sector. She had managed to gain control of most of Coil's assets and hired her team to join her. Publicly several of them had joined the Wards, but they were treated more like New Wave then Shadow Stalker.

It wasn't hard to convince her to work with me. I was even gracious about it. I wanted resources. I don't care if I'm in charge of the method used, just that it works. So I placed her in charge of most of my civilian projects, including my tinker network.

The last was something which had her rolling on the floor laughing. Considering the sheer terror Tattletale exhibited when I first appeared in front of her I wonder if she was experiencing emotional whiplash.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

I'd prefer to avoid the hassle of dealing with a Kill Order so I need a disguise for my clones. Since my stupid flaw means I still can't look like anything but a child I decide on a set of power armor. Well, more like a small mech that looks like power armor.

I base it off terminator armor from Warhammer 40k, although it changes out the face mask for the one the Big Daddy's use in Bioshock. Neither game exists in this world, although they might in Aleph. Who can't exactly sue me so I don't care.

I call them Reapers. I'd like to call them Terminators, but unfortunately that movie did come out and I'd like the avoid any panic attacks. I also limit their numbers. I send out no more than five at a time.

Well not publicly at least. Truthfully I send out several squads, but the rest are all disguised. Only one squad at a time is allowed to wearing the armor and attacking people. With maxed stealth and several powers active to aid them it wasn't like anyone was going to discover them.

As for the Reapers I try to make them seem like a tinker's wet dream. Exotic sensors, jetpack, cloaking systems and more. For weapons I used rail gun and laser cannon, both mounted on supports extending from the back and hanging over the shoulders. Each one five feet long they were overkill. Which is why they also have a half dozen smaller weapons incorporated into the suit.

My clones ended up spreading out like a plague. Without a range limit I had them infiltrate all the largest cities. Between how fast they could travel with Mover powers and my scan, finding parahumans was a breeze.

It took less than a week to prepare. The wave of assassinations was enough to terrify the world. Entire gangs were eliminated as a seemingly impossibly fast squad of tinker constructs started teleporting across the nation.

They'd appear, spraying out thousands of rounds from several weapons and effortlessly cutting down every criminal in range. Even pickpockets were killed. Then, less than a minute later, they'd vanish. Anyone checking timestamps would find that there was less than a minute between each appearance.

Capes are powerful, but they're limited to a single strong power of a number of lesser powers. My clones weren't. I had amazing physical stats, more than enough to qualify as a Brute and Mover on their own. The mech each wore also boosted them as well as provided several support systems.

I also had numerous skills, many of which could be powers in their own right. Especially after using Trainer to max them. Add in the often total surprise and lack of banter and my targets usually died in the first few seconds. Knowledge really is power.

I gained a number of grand soul gems and split them between Mana Regeneration, Improved Mana Regeneration and Memory Partition. After all the more clones out I had hunting the more gems I can gather. If there were more capes in the world, and I was willing to go all out, I might even have achieved true exponential growth. At it is I still have a decent linear progression.

I do buy a few other perks. Explorer for an automapping feature. Because why not end up with a map of the world? Flash Step because more teleporting is always good. And enough points in Easy as Breathing to make Iaido free for me.

Killing so many capes also meant I also leveled quickly and constantly. The reduced experience as I became higher level replaced by more sources of it. I'm like Walmart but with murder. Which sounded a lot better in my head.

One thing that Gamer's Mind can't help me with is mental fatigue. My boosted intelligence and some other abilities can greatly mitigate it, but running dozens of clones simultaneously across the country is a strain. It was probably one of the main contributing factors into why I stopped caring about hiding.

I had over a hundred instances of myself running by that point. While I still only deliberately went after villains, but if any heroes interfered I just killed them and moved on. Sure I had most of their powers already but it was another chance for a soul gem.

Abathur was ecstatic over the flood of samples and was rapidly designing ever more terrifying combinations of powers. He particularly enjoyed Nilbog's power as it greatly sped up his experiments. None of his models were being produced though since I was going to have to reset my power again to be able to harvest them.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Cauldron approached me twice. At the same time.

I'm not sure if they really are just that awkward without Contessa's guidance or they're splitting into factions, but both Alexandria and Legend approached me. Either way neither group had Contessa with them.

I talked to Legend first. He was passionate and reasonable. His arguments were all good. He explained about the threat of Scion. I could even agree with him. Too bad he doesn't know what Cauldron really does.

Telling him broke him. To know everything he had worked for was a lie. To discover the boogeyman was Cauldron and he was part of it. I honestly felt bad for him. It was like kicking a puppy. Or Captain America.

So I left him alone when he stopped talking. I didn't promise him anything though. I wasn't feeling that bad.

Alexandria was next. She was accompanied by the Number Man. Instead of passionate appeals they laid out their position in cold hard logic. Again I could see how they got where they were. I just didn't agree with them.

It was just so wasteful.

Sure maybe at the beginning it was necessary, although I doubt it. But after a decade or two of research? They could have started mass cloning and experimentation. Bonesaw's Slaughterhouse 9000 could have easily been a million. A billion. An endless sea of capes.

Worse, why had they never tried so many of the things Bonesaw or other villains had? Sure she was an insane monster, but they were already acting the part of monsters. Combining powers, breeding capes and a dozen other methods of creating living weapons against Scion.

They just acted too much like Bond villains for me. Secret bases, elaborate plans, ignoring any evidence they disagree with. Willfully blind idiots.

I didn't even let them finish their argument. I loaded Gilgamesh, teleported through the portal and cut down everything within reach. It turns out it's really hard to kill something you can't physically target so the Custodian escaped my grasp. Not even Flechette's power can harm her. A flaw in my offense I should probably fix later.

One survivor isn't too bad.

Honestly going down to the cells and wiping out all the test subjects was probably a mercy for most of them. The few that didn't seem insane I took a small sample from before letting go. I could afford to be merciful. I already had all the members of Cauldron save Legend. I doubt any of them could compare.

Besides deep within the base I found the mother lode.

I found the corpse of Eden.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Well if Abathur wasn't loyal to me before he sure is now. I doubt I could offer him anything greater than Eden's body. Well, maybe Scion or Abaddon. Of course it wasn't like I wasn't going to turn Scion's corpse once I killed him.

Still, he is happy and his research is making me happy, so all is well.

Well, everything would be well if Endbringers hadn't shown up. Part of it was my fault. I had forgotten that I now possessed a copy of Eidolons power. As such my assumption that the endbringers would stay on schedule meant that they did. Of course they didn't just appear though. My desire for more capable minions had them presenting themselves to me.

Clearly preconceptions play a large part into what they are. Or else why would I be able to recognize so many of them. Not just from the story, but from fanfiction as well. There's Khonsu, but also Khepri and several others I only vaguely recall.

I can feel them too. Like a direct link to each of them, similar to my clones, but not nearly as intimate. It also lets me know they're much more powerful than the Endbringers in the stories. Bohu didn't create traps. She was a full scale macro-fabricator and tinker. The inorganic counterpart to the shaper power from the CYOA.

Then there is the one with the actual shaper power. Which of course looks like Kerrigan. I blame the pictures from the CYOA for that one. And I'm pretty sure Behemoth wasn't an absolute psychokinetic before.

As for the rest I blame my subconscious. Why else would something that looks pretty much like Cthulhu have Vista's space warping powers amped up to eleven? And without a Manton limit to boot. The addition of Labyrinth's power as well also sounded like something I'd come up with.

Some I was just surprised by. After all I don't ever remember reading about a reptilian version of Echidna, well Noelle since I killed her before she rampaged. Maybe it was based off something I wanted? I do like the concept of minions.

However the prismatic glass person with the head of a lion didn't make much sense at all. It had the ability to convert all matter in a small area into glass, like one of Bakuda's bombs. Why would I want something like that when I had a biosculpter and inorganic sculptor pair of Endbringers?

At least I could influence them actively to some degree. So Leviathan, even without the Simurgh's aid, gained nanothorn fins and even raptor-like talons. Tohu's necks extended and gained the ability to grow two heads for each one that's cut off. And the lion guy no longer virally converted matter, but consumed it to spawn copies of itself. After all, what use are mountains of glass?

Then the Endbringer sirens went off.

 **X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X - X**

Lisa wasn't ashamed to admit that when the sirens first went off her first reaction was to panic. It was instinctive. Too many years of conditioning to react any other way.

Thankfully the repeated shocks from being exposed to Wild Hunt actually came in useful and it didn't last. And there's the fact that Wild Hunt also lives here. And with what her power fed her on just what he had used against the Simurgh, Lisa seriously doubted Behemoth or Leviathan would take any longer to be put down.

Her new boss really was pure bullshit. The combination of flight, precognition blocking, and shooting magical homing swords that can cut through everything was simply ridiculous. And that didn't even cover how many other powers he currently possessed. Him having a better version of Glaistig Uaine's power was not comforting.

Well, at least not when you're in his presence. Wild Hunt's strength was very comforting when you find yourself working for him and live inside a city he's protecting. But only when not sharing a room with him.

Which is why after a very brief and aborted lunge towards her emergency bag, Lisa picked herself back up and sat down on the couch. After all the last time she had talked to her boss he had indicated he had something spectacular planned for the other Endbringers.

Getting a call from Wild Hunt with the order to turn off the Endbringer sirens was not what she expected. Not that she could anyway. After the Simurgh had been revealed to be a tinker the sirens had been made heavily redundant and incredibly easy to trigger. No one liked the possibility of her sneaking and screaming without any warning.

Lisa did her best though. The Geek Squad, which is what she had named the tinker network, had provided her with massively upgraded capabilities. She had access to every security camera in the city, along with a fleet of sensor drones.

Cameras weren't the only thing her drones carried. Several of the larger ones carried bolters. Named and inspired by some gun from a game they were basically small spinning rocket bullets. A small plastic explosive starts it moving and sets off the rocket. Then it drills into the target. And it was literally drill.

Lisa gives a shiver thinking about the bolters. The wounds they inflicted were horrifying to see. So horrific that she had hired a team of people to take over piloting the armed drones. Knowing what they did she had trouble targeting people, even if she lost the drone. She wasn't surprised that Alec had no problem leading the team.

For him it was a dream job. Work was just to be on call until deployed. And when he was called up, it was only to get on the computer and play a real life FPS.

It wasn't just him either. Her entire team was being taken care of. Brian had job using his powers to provide radiation shielding for the Geek Squad and Rachel was running a dog training facility. Even Brian's sister was employed. She wasn't a cape, but it didn't matter since she worked with Alec.

Both of them are currently busy hunting down sirens under her directions. It's slow going though. At this rate, it'll take hours. Espeically since dragon keeps hacking the drones and the PRT is trying sending out squads to protect the sirens.

The massive EMP catches her by surprise. Lisa can't help but scream in protest as she sees her laptop fry. Her multi-million dollar laptop she had custom made. Then her power kicks in.

EMP wave massive in scope. Most likely source Behemoth. Hero killer never attempted stealth. Stealth pointless right now. Not attempting stealth.

Lisa's train of thought crashes when the lights come back on. Then her laptop slowly starts repairing itself. The cracked screen smooths out. The warped plastic flattens out. A quick glance around shows everything repairing itself. Even things like the stain on the couch from last week.

The only conclusion her power comes to is that the Simurgh is here and going around fixing things. Which is impossible. And ridiculous. And scary enough that Lisa decides she needs to go to bed.

Hopefully when she wakes up the world will make sense.


End file.
